Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy VI

Okay, so I know it's been a while, and I know this is super abrupt, but I just decided to end things here for the series. We're at a nice round number now, and I'm not saying I'll *never* come back to post more, it's just to let you all know not to get your hopes up. Besides, I've got some bigger, grander ideas for the pair along the line!

So, I guess I'll just finish off by saying that it's been a great ride, and I'll see you all around!

099. Believe

The clock on Relm's wall ticked slowly closer to the 12 at the pinnacle of the perfect circle. With every tick, her heart seemed to beat a little faster. Then there were only ten left. Nine. Eight. Seven. Six. Five.

Four.

Three.

Two...

One.

And just like that, she turned twelve. She squealed with joy to herself, silently, under the covers, and turned her eyes away from the clock. Now then, now she was twelve. Now she was one step closer to being a grown-up, and being able to prove to her Gramps that she was old enough to go out on trips with the other mages! She huffed herself quietly. All the other kids got to go, why not her? It wasn't fair! The vestiges of their argument from earlier that day still ran hot in her veins. He always said she got that from her mom. The thought made Relm smile a bit.

Her eyes flicked back to the clock, more out of habit than anything else at this point. Two minutes past midnight. She was getting drowsy, but she still couldn't decide on what to wish for this year. Every other year before this, she'd wished for a dog, or new paints, or her mother back...

But this year, she'd had an idea that hadn't seemed worm it's way out of her mind yet. It's like it haunted her every thought, whenever she painted or walked in the woods or lay in bed at night, wondering about all the things that clouded her mind.

Even if her Gramps has told her to abandon hope years ago, she had never given up on the belief that, one day, her Dad would come back. She didn't know why. It was just this feeling she had. Gramps said it was part of growing up, learning to give up on that kind of hope; that not all people were as nice as we might like to think. But Relm thought he was just being curmudgeony and old. And he hadn't been quite the same since her Mom died.

Relm didn't think it was unreasonable to hope. In the memory she had, he wasn't happy to be going. Mom always said he left because there were shadows in his past that he needed to put to rest, but he'd come back afterwards. It had already been six years, and surely that was enough, right? That meant he had to come back soon. Relm knew she wasn't stupid, so it made sense. It did make sense. It did.

So she closed her eyes and put her palms together. Squeezed her eyes tighter with all the will she was conjuring up inside her. And murmured, barely louder than the sound of a chocobo feather hitting this floor, 'I wish for my daddy to come home'.

She waited. And she hoped. And for a moment, she half expected to see him there when she hazily opened her eyes again. Instead, she looked tiredly around the room for something, anything, but saw only streaks of bright moonlight and shadows.

She rolled over, barely able to keep her eyes open now, and sighed as she fell into a deep sleep.

She knew he would come back. She believed it.

Aww, this feels super weird now! Well, anyway, all I want to do now is thank you all a hundred times over for reading, commenting, and enjoying my work. I hope it's brought you some joy to read it, and thank you for investing time here!

~ MateriaFlower1-1