I was going to give this an OOC rating, but the slash pairing involves neither Edgar nor Locke. You're in the clear.
Now, my interpretation is that Shadow is supposed to be dead, but I've seen plenty of fanfics that say otherwise. Insert grumbles here about the sandy-bowlered ostriches in the Harry Potter fandom, but it's not as though the people who wrote FF6 gave any interviews on the matter. And it is ambiguous.
I am eager to see what has befallen Celes. Kind of reminds me of /Dragons of Autumn Twilight/, and while I haven't even finished that book, I'm pretty sure that "befallen" is the right word to use in both cases.
Oh, yes, and watching much of the FF6 cast get sodding drunk was great fun.
Author's response
S'far as I know, the only way for Shadow to die is if you don't save him on the Floating Continent....
And nothing much has...er...befallen Celes. She's just Not Dealing Well With Intimacy, really. Got cold feet. ;)
And uh...:cough:...I guess I'm NOT in the clear, as this fic will, eventually, be Setzer/Locke. Oh well! ^__^