She was weak, struggling on legs that seemed heavier than she had ever remembered them being. All about her, the colors of the world swirled and danced, no one thing standing out clearly in her mind but the lady before her, the one in the black dress who she knew very well indeed. She knew why she was here.

"I... can't disappear yet..." Ultimecia said weakly, her voice pleading with the lady before her to understand. She struggled toward her, head low and shoulders stooped, tired beyond measure... ready to finally rest. Unable to see anything but Edea Kramer, Ultimecia threw her arms into the air with a gesture that took all of her strength, a motion that ripped the last of her powers away from her dead frame and transferred them unto the young woman before her. Before falling into the ground to rest, she mouthed the words "thank you" to Edea, a phrase which seemed insignificant to express the gratitude she felt... but the only one she had time to utter. As quickly as she had arrived and with even less fanfare, she was gone.

Then, as if she had never left, Ultimecia was back in the emptiness, only this time she was not sad. Looking about her, she saw the people she had longed for for years. Running toward them, she opened her arms widely and hugged them both, sobbing happily as she buried her face between them, allowing them to hug her back warmly. They were more than just her family... they were her life... her love, her source of hope that she had searched for all her life, trying to find in darkness and evil, never realizing that it had been with her all along. The past behind her, she stopped caring about the evils that bound her, throwing herself now into the love of those about her, the feeling so fulfilling, so wonderful... the very thing she had been looking for all her life! She wanted to shout for joy, to show all of creation her feelings of happiness and share them with all life... to finally be free of her inner-hell and join the streams of life that cascaded before her eyes with a shimmering radiance unequalled in all the world...

The child shouted happily toward the heavens, at once overwhelmed in the love of her mother and grandmother, but also by the idea that she had been redeemed. As the three of them faded into eternity, she hugged them both as they all wordlessly cried for one another... finally a family. Memories flooded of all of the happiness that they had had together... and all of the joy that they would soon have, bound by a force so great that nothing would ever tear them apart again... no death to take them, no sadness to overcome them. In many ways, they were all children again. She could live with them forever now and reclaim that childhood she thought lost... the childhood that she had never had... the childhood that would last for all eternity.

"Mommy, Grammy... I love you..."

I would like to thank all those that took the time to read this work, but a special thanks goes out to my Calculus AB instructor, Mrs. Millard, my best friend Andy Mikkelson, and for all of you who have taken the time to read one of my more ambitious projects to date. I am well aware that I have created many themes within this work that I never developed. I suppose one could say that I was in a rush to bring this to you before it became to late.

If you have any questions concerning it or anything else I might have on RPGFan's site, then feel free to e-mail me. I very well could have made this into a more detailed novel, and maybe I will. My own vision for this work was not truly realized due to time constraints.

What do you think? I will be happy to receive any criticism that you have. Remember: the best Final Fantasy is the one that you make your own. I hope you liked this story, and I hope to have all of the other "childhoods" for the other Final Fantasy villains ready within the next few years!

All Respects,

Thomas Wier
NEO_BOSOFROD@prodigy.net

Never Childhood by Thomas Gregory Wier III, (c) 2000