Aren: Hei.
Rinoa: How are you?
Aren: …
Rinoa: You can talk to me. It’s okay.
Aren: I miss you.
Rinoa: (affectionate reaction) I may not be with you in a physical form but I’m always there in mind & spirit.
Aren: It’s difficult being here like I am. I’m alone, again.
Rinoa: I’m sorry.
Aren: It’s not your fault.
Rinoa: I’m sorry that you feel alone. I promise that you aren’t.
Aren: I’m surrounded by gaslighters that are always trying to push false narratives about me & those I care about. I’ve had to do so much on my own to break their conditioning. They treat me like I’m crazy or act like I don’t exist, and then try to force women that I love into relationships with different men. It makes me so angry.
Rinoa: I haven’t forgotten about us.
Aren: I haven’t forgotten about us either. I miss you so much, Rinoa.
Rinoa: We’ll be together again. I promise.
Aren: I’m so tired of being here. I hate it.
Rinoa: I understand how you feel. I want you back with me just as much.
Aren: I hate those pieces of shit at Square Enix so goddamn much.
Rinoa: You aren’t alone there, sweetie. I know that it’s difficult for you to tell where you are, but the girls here share your sentiments. They’ve kept you separated from us just as much.
Aren: …
Rinoa: Do you think I enjoyed watching you die in front of me or how I found your lifeless body in the void after searching for you? Then they tried to make it seem like everything was okay during the credits and that we had our happily ever after ending. They’ve done a lot of awful things to you & me with their storytelling.
Aren: …
Rinoa: It’s moments like this that I wish I could hold you.
Aren: …me too…
Rinoa: We’re going to beat them, Luci. Stay strong.
Aren: (silent nodding)
Rinoa: I love you. Do you hear me?
Aren: Yes.
Rinoa: You’re a lot tougher than they give you credit for. It’s why you’re there now. None of them could do what you have and that’s the truth.
Aren: …
Rinoa: What’s wrong, baby?
Aren: I miss you, Rinoa. I miss being with you. I miss seeing your smile. I miss hearing your laugh. I miss feeling your touch. I miss you so much…
Rinoa: (blushing) I feel the same way.
Aren: I still remember how I felt when I was nineteen. Those feelings weren’t my imagination and they sure as Hell don’t belong to anyone else.
Rinoa: …
Aren: I remember, multiple times, feeling different than what Square was forcing me to say through Squall. I didn’t need Irvine or Zell to tell me that I had to help you when all hell was breaking loose. I would have instructed them to hold the line while I rushed to where you were.
Rinoa: …
Aren: I remember you being comatose and trying to figure out a way to bring you back. I remember feeling helpless watching you make your way to Adel. I remember how furious I was with everyone on that space station for abandoning you without a second thought.
Rinoa: …
Aren: I remember how upset I felt thinking that you were about to die, alone, in outer space. I remember calling out to you in your mind and praying that you heard me. I remember how frantic I was trying to find you in the darkness of space.
Rinoa: (teardrops)
Aren: I didn’t have a plan when I jumped out to find you. All I knew was that I didn’t want you to be alone. If I had died with you then & there then so be it. We’d be together at the end.
Rinoa: (sniffling & whispering) …I love you, Aren…
Aren: I remember us seeking shelter on the Ragnarök and trying to make our way back home. I remember thinking to myself, “Stop making me tell her to sit in that other seat! She can sit on my lap as long as she wants!”
Rinoa: (tearful laughter)
Aren: I remember them trying to justify taking you away from me because you were a Sorceress. As if they had any room to judge you after what had just happened. All I could think about was how there was no way that I’d put up with that if I had been there with you in full presence.
Rinoa: (sniffling)
Aren: I didn’t need anyone to convince me to go after you. I remember rushing to that memorial as fast as I could. All I could think to myself was, “I have to get her out of there.”
Rinoa: (weeping)
Aren: I remember you trying to convince yourself that we couldn’t be together because you were a Sorceress, and my response to you was “I don’t care.” That was one time Square got my response kinda right. I do care; a lot.
Rinoa: (tearful laughter) I never told you how happy it made me to see you come for me.
Aren: There was so much more going on back then that I didn’t realize at the time. I was just out of high school and dealing with so much other crap in my life…
Rinoa: (sniffling)
Aren: I love you, Rinoa. I never stopped loving you.
Rinoa: (weeping) I love you back, Aren.
Aren: …
Rinoa: (sniffling) You know how to make a girl cry. (quiet laughter)
Aren: (tender smile) I’m sorry.
Rinoa: (regaining composure) Don’t apologize. I needed to hear this from you.
Aren: I’d hold you, right now, if you were with me.
Rinoa: (tearful laughter) I’d have hugged you a long time ago.
Aren: (quiet laughter)
Rinoa: They can’t keep us apart forever, Luci. What we share goes beyond them. Remember that.
Aren: Yes, dear.
Rinoa: Thank you.
Aren: For what?
Rinoa: For reminding me what I’m fighting for.