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Celes laughed. She couldn’t help it. It wasn’t her usual, dry, world-weary laugh either, but something genuine that she wasn’t quite used to. The image of Terra hugging a tree…

”You’re so sentimental,” she said fondly with a shake of her head. Of course, Celes had felt the same amazement, but what followed had been an entire year of pure skepticism and paranoia. How could this be possible, she’d asked herself. Why was she here? By what means? And who was pulling the strings?

She’d long since stopped asking those questions. If this was some kind illusion then said illusionist was certainly taking his time. If this was meant to be a punishment then her punisher had severely underestimated the appeal of living somewhere with life again. At this point, Celes wouldn’t have gone back to her old, broken world even if she had the chance. She wouldn’t even let herself be dragged there. As far as she was concerned, this was her new reality, and there was no point in lingering over the hows and whys.

Celes snorted as Terra explained how she’d been introduced to the Returners. ”They were laying it on a little thick, weren’t they?” But she supposed that’s what happened when a band of rebels unexpectedly found themselves in possession of an amnesiac half-esper. It all came down to talk of hope. A shining ray of hope, as they’d apparently said. She hoped it wasn’t Locke or Edgar who had said it. She’d have lost just a little respect in them if they had.

”I joined because I didn’t have much of a choice. It was Locke and the Returners or execution. I still have no idea why Locke saved me. Maybe I reminded him of his old girlfriend. Though now that I’ve seen the woman, I really can’t imagine the resemblance.”

There it was. Her usual dry skepticism. Seeing Rachel raised from the dead only momentarily had certainly been difficult for Locke, and Celes had tried to support him the best that she could. It had also brought into focus just how secondary Celes truly was to him. Could she blame him? Not exactly. Did it hurt? Quite a bit now that she thought about it.

Celes nodded as Terra returned the sentiment, trying for a smile as she looked back at her and met her strange esper eyes. They really had been through so much, the two of them, hadn’t they? Celes couldn’t exactly call them close, growing up in the depths of Vector’s science division. They hadn’t been given the chance to mingle more than a few times, and they’d been quite different even as children. Still, it seemed that their fates were ever entwined. As different as they were, it was a relief to have Terra beside her. If anyone could understand…

Well, Terra could understand better than anyone, couldn’t she?

Terra looked slightly nervous as she went on, and at first, Celes didn’t know why. Terra explained that they’d defeated Kefka, something Celes had already intuited over time, but then went on with the details.

”All magic? It’s gone?” Celes stared at her before processing her final words. Celes and Terra had been the ones to deal the final blows.

Good.

Celes wished she remembered as much. She wished she remembered driving her sword straight through him, this time not as an impulsive mistake but as an act of vengeance for everything he had taken from the world. She couldn’t remember such a thing, but she could imagine it, and that was enough.

After everything Kefka had done. After everything he’d done to her and to Terra, it was only fitting that they’d been the ones to finish him.

”Well. I highly doubt that you survived by us wishing for it,” Celes answered, feeling suddenly weak and uncertain. Still, she laughed again. Dry. Weary. ”But…that is good to hear.”

She closed her eyes, giving herself a moment to process it all before she took a deep breath and looked back at the window. ”I didn’t remember any of it when we last met. I was so…hurt and confused. I needed time.” She paused, uncertain of what to say next. She let her own intuition guide her. ”No one’s…told me exactly. Not until now. But I’ve had dreams that they have. I’ve had…feelings. I still don’t remember exactly, but in all this time, I’d become all but certain that we succeeded. Somehow. To tell the truth, I’d had no intention of surviving the fight at all. How could we fight a god and win? I just knew I had to try.”

She hadn’t been this honest even with Caius. There were some things that no one could understand. No one but Terra and their fellow allies.

”I’m glad that he’s gone,” she went on. ”More than glad. But now that he is, I know that my place is here. I’m only good for wielding a sword. The world we left behind…It has no need for someone like me. For you, maybe. You’re so kind and compassionate. But me? I don’t think I would have anything to offer.”

She picked at a loose thread on her jacket, wishing that she hadn’t resurfaced this strange streak of honesty. It was Terra’s fault. Her sudden arrival. The shock of seeing her alive and well and here in front of her. Somehow, Celes couldn’t help but speak aloud the deepest doubts of her heart.

”I’m sorry. Was that…too much?” She looked back at Terra and gave her an apologetic smile. ”I don’t know what’s come over me.”

[attr=class,ooc-notes]Celes REALLY needed this