The party began to heal wounds and clean themselves up while preparing for the next time era, when Aeris spoke up.
"Everyone….I have something to ask of you, please."
All eyes and ears cued on what she had to say.
"I…I've been thinking of all the time we've spent together, and I just wanted to say, that no matter what kind of road we travel on ahead, I want you to know that I'll never forget any of you. Even if I go back to my era. Even if we all go back to our own times, never forget the time we spent with each other as friends."
Nods in agreement filled the party as they paused for a moment to reflect on where each had come from.
Some had come from a Royal Castle, others from a Dark City, still others from Ancient Civilizations long lost to time and space.
Standing near the edge of the now split pillar, Ramza closed his eyes and imagined he was back home in Ivalice, with Blue skies, and a soft wind playing with his hair. It was almost real, he could almost feel the flow of wind tussling his hair.
A hand touched his shoulder, surprisingly, when he looked, it was Seifer.
"I have a favor to ask of you, Ramza…." He said, not directly looking in his eyes, which wasn't like himself.
"What is it?"
"You think we could, um, visit my old Matron's house when we go back to my era? She might have some useful information for us. She used to be a great sorcerer, I think she might be able to help us."
Doing a double-take on Seifer's request, Ramza answered, "Er, sure, Seifer..."
After the party was fully rested from their fight with Chaos, they set out to stand in their designated sections on the platform, but now something was different, thankfully the Gate wasn't split in half along with the tower, but now something else was different.
"There are 12 platforms and one in the middle now, there were only 11 before." Delita commented.
"That's because you found me and my stone, the time gates react even more now than they did before to the stones since we have all of them." Teta explained.
"Yeah, now Altima's gonna get her butt wuppped!" Zidane cheered.
"She doesn't stand a chance against us now!" Cloud agreed.
"Let's go then!" Delita drew his sword, Legend, and plunged it deep into the activating anvil.
Instead of the usual blue hue of light, something different happened.
"Greetings, braves, I am glad you are all whole once again!"
"Wha-? Who's that? Who's there?"
"I am Gaia, the spirit of the planet, I speak to you through the stones, to tell you that now that you are complete once again. The time gate is at its full power, and you can use it whenever you wish, to go where you are needed as long as you are together. And time is open to you, not just in the gates, but whenever you believe in yourselves…you are the masters of time, the guardians of time. This is not your final fantasy, but your world and your story."
"Defeat Altima, but do not let the light in your hearts fade. The stones may fade, but your hearts must never fade away. Tell your children, tell them of their New Legacy. Never let them forget that they are the Warriors of Light and that this world is theirs. Never forget."
Just as mysteriously as the voice appeared, it faded away in a soft echo, the words forever etched in the minds and hearts of the braves.
"That…is my dream…" Seifer whispered.
In an instant the Braves were whisked away to another time, a golden aura surrounding them this time. And as they arrived at their former time, the pillar they stood upon was whole once again. But what they discovered shocked them even more.
They were no longer on the platform that whisked them to and from time eras, nor were they anywhere near the gate. Instead they were on the surface of the Deep Sea Research Center.
"I guess what Gaia said was right after all...we can go anywhere we want in the blink of an eye." Delita thought aloud.
"But only if we're all together, all 13 of us." Alma said.
"Instant transportation is cool and all, but, guys, take a look around." Zidane commented, "Guess we can't call this place 'Deep Sea' Research Center anymore…"
They were standing atop the Research Center they knew, but they failed to notice that the ocean that once made the place an Island was completely dried up.
"I guess when we defeated Omega, he took all the water with him, not good." Zidane said.
"Bugenhagen said we have to defeat Ultimecia, Jenova, and Necron, I'm guessing, if we beat them, Fire, Wind and Earth disappear along with them." Ramza said.
"Altima, you monster!" Delita said, "even when we fight through the fiends we lose something we hold dear!"
"Hold on! Don't run swinging your sword so quickly!" Ramza interjected, "Seifer said he knows of a former Sorceress who may be of some help to us, lets go visit her before we take on Ultimecia."
"I really don't have the first idea as to where we can find this former Sorceress, so I guess we just have to trust Seifer on this one." Delita scratched his head in confusion.
Seifer stepped forward from the group and spoke, "Matron Edea should be able to help us as she's dealt with Ultimecia more than Rinoa, but don't expect me to be all nice when we get there."
Smiling at the humor of Seifer actually being nice, Delita said, "We'll focus on following you, while you use the Transport power of the stones to warp us there."
Seifer concentrated hard on his stone. Concentrating wasn't one of his major talents, but he could do it. He pictured Edea's house beside a beach on a lonely peninsula, a broken light house on the rocks further out, and he thought one word: "Go!"
In a gold flash of light, the party was instantly in front of the old Orphanage, the quaint little place was about as nice as vacation resort, except for the fact that there were no waves lapping at the beach.
All was silent, so Seifer quickly stepped inside, where he found Matron taking care of a small group of children, quiet and content.
Not even looking up, she said, "Seifer, you've come back after so long? I didn't expect you of all the children, to return after so long. Are you and Squall getting along?"
"Well, uh, Squall and Rinoa have kinda changed since you last saw them."
"They've merged, haven't they? I expected their love for each other was that strong. So, may I speak with your new GF?"
"Uh, sure," he waved his arm and summoned the beast, but Griever didn't make it's roaring entrance, instead two figures in white light appeared, then dimmed into phantom like images of Squall and Rinoa.
"Matron, it is good to see you again…" Squall spoke but Rinoa's lips moved in sync with his.
"Hello Squall, Rinoa, have you taken good care of Seifer, protected him in his fights?"
A smirk formed on Squall's face which didn't happen that often, "We have, but he doesn't summon us that often, we need more training."
The voice switched over to Rinoa's, "He's having trouble talking to you about what's going on in the eras, but I'll speak for him, we've been watching the Braves just as we sensed you were, We guess you had your Sorceress powers returned to you when we merged."
"That's right, but I only use my powers to help those in need. I do ask that you tell me," she looked at Seifer directly, Rinoa couldn't help a short giggle, "How's your dream is going?"
Seifer, at this point blushed a beet red, "Well....I've realized who I am..not a sorceress knight...but a Light Warrior, thank you…um…Squall, for teaching me that."
"You learned it yourself…We had nothing to do with it."
"I see you brought in your friends, no need for introductions I know you are pressed for….time." Edea mused, "Like Griever said, I have been watching you, in your eras, and I have made a great discovery."
"What's that?" Seifer asked, now mesmerized by his Matron's wisdom.
"That each of you represents a certain element, not just symbols of the Zodiac, you need not worry about losing your world every time you destroy a fiend, you can restore them. Look around, look in your hearts: each of you represents Earth, Fire, Wind, Water, and," she looked at Delita, "Light."
Delita finally spoke aloud to this mysterious Sorceress, "How can we restore the elements?"
"Believe in your hearts, find out who you are, and trust in yourselves that you can do it."
Delita could hardly believe his ears. That was exactly what Gaia had said, he looked around and looked at his friends, each representing an element: Agrias, Cloud, Teta--Earth; Sephiroth, Beowulf, Seifer--Fire; Ramza, Zidane, Reis--Wind; Garnet, Aeris, Alma--Water; and himself--Light.
"So now you know what you can do, not just save the world, but also restore it. Do not lose faith in what a select few can accomplish, even if they are only three. You must restore the world before you can save it, and this remember, especially you Seifer. I raised you when you were but a child. Remember that you are a warrior of light now."
The room fell silent after she spoke, after a few moments, Delita asked, "How shall we restore the water?"
Her eyes looked deeply into his and she answered almost with an ancient voice, "Those of that element will, know if they look in their hearts."
"I guess its up to us: me, Garnet, and Aeris…" Alma said.
"Good of you to not only trust in yourselves, but also realize you are not alone, the elements will help you…"
"We will remember this always, Matron," Squall said respectfully, then looked at Rinoa, love shining in her eyes for her knight. "It's time for us to leave, Seifer, Braves, we should go and restore the Ocean now."
"Always with the hot air, Squall, lighten up with the formality, man!" Seifer said with his usual smirk.
As they were leaving Ramza spoke with Seifer, "Why did Matron Edea speak directly at you, Seifer, as if you were struggling with something."
Seifer, not really wanting to answer that question, looked off into space for a moment, then turned back.
"I guess you could say, I was supposed to be Ultimecia's Sorceress' Knight. That was, I had thought, to be my dream. My romantic dream, but it turns out, I was supposed to be a Light Warrior. She was just reminding me that I have a duty as a light warrior first, and not to hold any love for Ultimecia for what she did, and is doing."
"Love? You loved her?"
"Love is such a soft word, we had passion for each other, the only thing that broke us apart is that she was hungry for power more than anything else. That and the fact that Squall and his friends defeated her before she could time compress all things into her."
"I was on the brink of death because of her, I have my regrets, yeah, but even then, there's still something in my heart for her, that was what Edea was warning me of."
"Don't worry, Seifer, we we'll help you defeat her, as hard as that may be." Ramza confided in him.
"Come on," Seifer said in his salty, indifferent tone, "lets restore the ocean and get this over with!"
The three women lined themselves up along with what was left of the beach, brought forth their stones, and concentrated. Using the stones wasn't exactly like casting a spell, it was more like making a wish and willing it to happen.
Aquarius, Virgo, and Pisces shined brightly in their hands as they imagined a vast ocean with emerald green waves, filled with life and all kinds of sea creatures.
The wish worked, it seemed as though a massive deluge erupted from the stones and flooded the entire area with Water. But the flow seemed to spiral as it spread to the outermost parts of the ground, bringing water back through rivers and waterfalls, and life seemed to fill the water, just as if it never left.
"Well, now that the water element is restored, we have to take on Ultimecia, only Griever knows how she fights, and I don't think we want to bring the Guardian Force out any time soon." Delita strategized, "Any suggestions as to how to take on a powerful Sorceress?"
All eyes turned to Seifer when he said, "Sorceresses are a lot like vampires, the only way to kill them is to pierce their heart, or we could take off her head."
"Not exactly a easy idea considering the fact that she knows both Black and White magics, she could cast a Flare spell one minute and Curaga the next, that also means if she has protect up, you can't do any real physical damage." Teta thought for a moment, "But if someone were to cast Silence on her that should do the trick, it might not last long considering they more than likely have an incredibly high healing rate, but if we could Silence her before she casts protect that could work."
Delita laughed at this as if it seemed a near impossible task, "I guess that leaves the rest of the job up to the guys to lop off her head. Just to make sure the job gets done right, though, I think we should designate Seifer as our main man." He patted Seifer's back rather roughly.
"Erk, ME! Why me! I thought I was the one having trouble fighting her?"
"Who else but you would she not expect? Besides, I think you need a little taste of the front lines anyway…"
Zidane chimed in, "We need someone who can hit what he targets for, you're the only guy here who almost never misses what he hits. Last time I checked you were the one who seriously chopped up that Zone Eater for us, even when Cloud's Omnislash didn't seem to work very well. We need you."
"Alright, alright, if you need me that badly…," his now-famous smirk appeared as he swung his Griever's Heart, spun it and placed it in its holster.
Alma set the plans in motion, "Ultimecia is probably guarding the time gate at Tears' Point, we need to get there and take her out."
A surprise to the rest of the party, Edea came running out of the orphanage, bearing an oddly shaped bracer and gave it to Seifer.
"This should protect you from Ultimecia's Manipulation. But just because she can't confuse your mind, don't let her confuse your heart." She clasped the bracer onto Seifer's guard hand and gave him an unexpected but warm hug.
"Thanks, M-Matron." Seifer almost looked like he was about to cry.
"No tears, warrior of light, you have a war to fight." She smiled, "And thank you, Zodiac Braves, for restoring the water to this world."
Seifer stood silent for a moment, and for the first time he knew exactly how Squall used to feel, how he always bottled up his feelings inside, and didn't want to show the lonesome orphan, but the brave knight who fought to right the wrongs and destroy the evil.
Turning toward the now ebbing and flowing tides he said, "We have to leave."
"Alright Seifer, let's go everyone." Delita said finally, bringing out his stone, as did the others. The next instant warping on the outside of Tears' Point.
