EDITOR'S NOTE: if you're just joining us, be sure to check
out the rest of the story here:part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4 and part 5 and part 6 and part 7 and part 8 and part 9 and part 10.
Epilogue
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
..I stood on the beach, admiring my last view of the sunset on Costa del Sol. It was weird, to put “good riddance” and “I’ll miss you” in the same sentence, but it sure felt appropriate. The scenery in this place was spectacular, and the geography wasn’t bad, either. Despite the constant fear of death, I almost had fun. As I contemplated my mixed feelings, I also thought about some of the events in the past few days.
..Sometime after I came to, I was informed that after a severe beating, Zio was turned in for his crimes. I was also told that Ghaleon had decided not to kill me, on the merits that I’d helped him track down the guy who was busy framing him for mass murder. If only I could do the same for my landlord. With this in mind, I wasn’t completely worried when Ghaleon showed up at my hotel. The conversation went something like this:
.. “Gah!” I said, when I opened the door.
.. “Good evening, Boniface. May I come in?” As he said this, he was already through the door.
.. “Uh, sure.”
..He looked for a place to sit down, and picked the bed. As far as I know, this was because the radiator wasn’t pillowed. He looked up at me.
.. “And… ah,” I stammered. “What brings you to my hotel?”
..He gave me a curious look. “My letter opener,” he said bluntly. “I would like that back.”
It took me a few seconds to work out that he meant the knife I’d taken from his suite. After a bit of scrounging, I produced it. He gave me a curt nod, and left without so much as a goodbye.
..Eventually, the sun died down, and Costa del Sol entered that magic time I know of as twilight, which isn’t really magical, and I’m not exactly sure why it has its own name. There was a noise behind me, and I saw that it was Yuffie. Obviously, she’d wanted me to hear her coming. In her hand was a small travel bag, which she handed to me after we exchanged greetings.
.. “It’s your money,” she explained, while I opened it. “And… everything else I took from you. Mostly.” A quick scan of the contents told me that the money was more or less the owed amount, and the underwear spoke for itself. I noted that the pair with the hearts was missing. I didn’t say a word. I nodded at her, in thanks.
..After some time passed, she said, “So… I guess you’re going to leave tomorrow, huh?”
.. “My zeppelin goes out at two.”
.. “Ah.”
..Several more moments passed. Yuffie was holding her arm, lightly. I couldn’t tell if it was because she didn’t know what to say, or if it was to comfort the bruise that was still there from a few days ago. She kept looking around, but she wasn’t going anywhere.
..I knew what she wanted. I wasn’t completely brainless. Since her onetime stint at saving the world, Yuffie had grown restless with her life. I imagine that’s why she wasn’t living the high life back at her country. Unfortunately, the rest of the world turned out to be just as boring, and the only real adventure that came her way was going to be officially over when I left. In a way, I felt sorry for her.
..For the next minute and a half, I mulled over what could be a very important decision, and eventually decided to go for it. I took a step toward Yuffie, leaned in, and kissed her.
..Oh, this was on the forehead, by the way, but I bet I had you going there, for a second. When I pulled back, she gave me a look that told me not to do that again, but also asked me why the hell I did it in the first place.
..I said, “Do you want a job, Yuffie?”
..She gave me an even stranger look, and eventually she nodded her head quickly.
.. “All right. Is a week enough time to get things settled around here?”
..She nodded again.
.. “Ok, Yuffie. You’d better get started on that. I’ll see you then.”
..Yuffie gave a final nod, and wordlessly ran back to her apartment. I wondered if I’d made a smart choice. I always said I needed some kind of assistant, and it would definitely come in handy to have someone who was capable of sneaking around, when I needed them. It might be hard paying her for a little while, but somehow, I didn’t think she’d much mind. At any rate, it was too late to turn back now.
..After some more thought on this, I again turned to the moonlit beach. There were still some people there, among them a few fabulous looking young ladies. It occurred to me that I had taken a vacation without too many pleasant memories. Maybe I could change that, a little. I still had one night, and it was my last real night in Costa del Sol. Why waste it outside?
Fin
~~~~Author’s note:
Well, folks, the story has reached its ending. I hope you had as much fun reading it as I did writing it. I’d like to thank everyone at the DL for what help they could give me, most notably those who helped by supplying information on Ghaleon and his girls, and those who edited this mess. Without them, the characterization would be even further off, and you would have a hard time swimming through my commas.
I would also like to take this time to apologize for the suddenness of the “Zio did it” resolution. Honestly, I had thought I’d tossed a mention to him somewhere else in the story, but this was not the case. By the time I realized my error, my choices were to continue the way I did, or to introduce Zio, by which time there would be no surprise. I suppose I can go back and fix this oversight, should anyone want to read the archives.
For a little while, I’m going to take a small break. If you’re a fan, please do not worry. I’m already plotting another Face story. Just let me take a few weeks to sort out how I want it executed. Until then, please, enjoy the RPGDL. I’m sure there’s something else here, which may interest you.
It’s Been a blast,
Veryslightlymad