The Orphan - Notes

Endnote.-

Squall& Rinoa's Relationship

I dislike stories that have Rinoa and Squall professing their eternal love for each other every two and half paragraphs. I think Squall's actions are more important than the words that he speaks. If you study the Rinoa in this story you would see that she and Squall share an intimate relationship with each other. In the end, I don't believe in having characters love each other by saying those cliched three words "I love you." They were never said in the game and they will never be said here or any sequels that should follow, unless I think of innovative place to put it.

In this story Squall questions his love for Rinoa however, in the end he finds his reasons for loving her. The bond Squall and Rinoa share at the beginning of the story metamorphosizes into the one in which they share at the end, which is a far more intimate one.

Alexandra's Significance and metaphor

Alexandra is not just your average villain. She represents something that is evident in almost every gamer that fell in love with a video game. Alexandra leaves her world of reality in attempt to escape into this fantasy world. However, in entering this world she treats all those whom she meets as puppets. They are not real people to her, just characters in a story or figures in a video game.

In writing about Alexandra I was bringing up the issue of fanfiction in general. When you write a fanfic you change fate. And some authors like to insert themselves into these stories as well. Therefore, this presents the other side of the story in terms of those who like to fiddle around with fate. Remember the next time an author tries to pair together characters in s creative way, or when they try to rewrite the game. I'm not condemning or commending such a thing. Stories are to raise questions not to give answers.

Difference between Squall and Seifer-

In this story Squall and Seifer are a reflection of each other. Notice that as Seifer is elevated higher in his quest for glory and power, Squall slowly slips from his position of the same. If you accept the premise of this story than FF8 would have had a very ironic ending. Seifer, whose dream has always been to have the love of many, has only the friendship of his posse. The loyalty of one, which is in fact Squall's dream. However, Squall on the other hand, becomes the commander of Garden and defeats Ultimecia. He has glory and power but not the love of one since he's confused about his feelings for Rinoa. It's interesting and tragic in a way how they achieved each other's dreams instead of their own.

In this story Squall comes to the realization that he had been after the wrong goal all along. However, his love for Rinoa leads him to betray SeeD. Because of this decision, we can never be sure if Squall us really the hero or the villain of this story.

Laguna and Squall's relationship- I don't hate Laguna. Maybe this story gives the impression that Laguna is an awful guy but that's pretty much just setting the stage for the sequel which is about Laguna's past, his motives and such.

Why Cid is not in the story - probably a lot of you wondered why I choose to do away with all the adults at Garden. Well, the thought that a bunch of adults would send a army of seventeen year olds out to fight a war disgusts me. That's why I needed to eliminate the adults. Had the adults been there, the choice would not have been up to Quistis to fight. Anyway, I'm sorry I had to kick Cid out. I don't really see his significance to the story anyway.

Significance of all the Crossing the stars stuff -

okay this is for everyone who didn't understand why Squall had to die. Remember at the end of Chapter 16 where Squall said "Destiny will never allow me to love you. Tragedy awaits those that cross the stars, Alex." Well that is very important. The irony of course is that the chapter is entitled "crossing the stars" and here Squall is talking about the consequences of doing so. In chapter 24 Alex says "I can give you this, the world, the moon, the sea. It will all belong to you and all I ask in return is that you cross the stars." What she means then is that if he agreed to forget Rinoa and love her she will give him everything. He was never meant to love her, you see. Fate says that he and Rinoa are to be together. In chapter 25 Squall says"It's too late for me to cross the stars." This is very interesting. I was trying to pull a Henry James here. While Alexandra thinks that what Squall means is that he wants to change destiny and love her, what he really means is that it's too late for him to save himself. Squall then says "Alexandra, I'm sorry." She thinks that he is trying to apologize for loving Rinoa when what he really means is that he sorry for what he is about to do. Then of course, he says "Destiny can be rewritten," which means that Rinoa will change destiny by resurrecting him. The reader's first impulse would be to take it to mean that he is changing Rinoa's fated death by killing himself. However after 27, the reader realizes that what he really meant was that Rinoa can change destiny and undo his death. That's why Squall's last words to Rinoa are "I promise you will find me, do you understand?" What he means is that he will wait here for her. That he will not pass on. That if she loved him enough she can pass the tests and bring him back to life. In the end Rinoa says "and for you I will cross the stars," she does not mean go against fate here. Here she means, I will do what Alex told you and I will travel past the stars to bring you back to me.

Squall had to die in this story because he questioned his love for Rinoa. You see in the world they live in, a perfect world, there should be perfect love. However, Squall goes against that when he begins to wonder if he really loves Rinoa that is the beginning of his demise. That is the underlying reason why Squall died. It is also the reason why Alexandra loves him. He is able to see the gray between the good and the evil. In the end of the story however, Rinoa reveals that she too can see the gray when she talks about how Alex wasn't really evil. Alex said to Rinoa in chapter 20 that "hate is when love is not returned." what Alex meant was that she loved Rinoa too, but unlike Squall, Alex didn't believe that Rinoa can ever return her love. It's funny to me in a way when people ask me how I can kill Squall. I wonder if they realize that this is a story testing the bond between Rinoa and Squall. Such a story is by its very nature forbidden. If one thing Final Fantasy 8 stated clearly was that Rinoa and Squall belong together. How can a lowly author like me try to break what is unbreakable? Well, that's why Squall had to die for contemplating breaking the bond between him and Rinoa. There is no other possible ending. Had Rinoa been the one to question her love for Squall, she would have been punished with death as well. However she never did.

Of course now the question is did Squall ever love Alexandra? Well as long as she is in a position of power and inside Rinoa's body, the answer is no. However, should she have shown up in her rightful body without powers of destruction, the scenario might just be very interesting. In the third installment of The Orphan Trilogy I planned to deal with that. However, I seriously doubt if The Orphan will ever be a trilogy simply because I'm rapidly losing my enthusiasm for writing.

What exactly happened at the end - Okay, at the end, Rinoa inherits Alexandra's power. If you read chapter 9 carefully or even chapter 25, you would see that. Yes now Rinoa can read minds, posses others, see ghosts - all of it. Alexandra had all her power sucked out of her. She is trapped in the future as a simple helpless child. There will never be anymore of a threat from her despite the fact that she is still alive.

Possibility for a sequel - Of course the chapter called crossing the stars hints at the possibility of a sequel. I don't know. If I do make a sequel it will be about Laguna sorting out his past, Rinoa going to get Squall back and some exploring of the Cetra Ruins by Squall's friends. But you see, I seem to have lost my enthusiasm for the characters of FF8. I'm not sure if I can go under for another twenty chapters. I'm afraid that my story is going too far from the true story of FF8. So don't count on a sequel, really don't count on it. In the end, I want to ensure you that sequel or no, The Orphan is a complete work and it stands alone fine without a sequel.

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