FicWad

Chapter 3

Apparently Seifer's coma knocked some sense into him, and he explained how Jenova was some alien from outer space who could make people into her son or something and was trying to take over the world.


Or something. Zell didn't really get it. But Seifer had decided that this was all Cloud's problem anyway, and that they should concentrate on finding the others. He'd talked to Jenova, and Cloud was amazed that he'd shrugged her off. Or something.


They talked plans, Squall outlining what had to be done, and Seifer delegating with grand gestures like he wasn't just come back from being a traitor and at least five ranks below Zell at this point. He'd discounted Zell at the onset, never sending a chicken to do a man's job, sending Selphie to sneak off to discreetly monitor Cloud's communications. Judging by her face, the thick blond tuffs didn't braid as well as she thought it would.


The newcomer Cloud was calling around on what looked sort of like a Garden communicator, but could transmit two-way and across much longer distances. Zell was crap at electronics, but Xu would probably give her left leg for it. There was a totally bad-ass cycle nearby he'd certainly love to take apart, but Cloud sent him a weird glowing glare every time he was even close. Still, even with those technologies, this still seemed like lamest part of Centra ever, and after the initial fighting, Zell was getting pretty bored of this whole Time Compression transportation thing.


"Can we trust this guy?" Zell brought up, once Cloud was off talking and the Moomba had wandered away, mostly because Zell had been more comfortable with the fighting than this planning, and if they knocked Cloud out, he could probably get to the cycle before Seifer. "I mean, he did just attack us."


"He thought I was going to become an agent for the destruction of the world," Seifer replied snidely. "From my reputation, it's not too much of a stretch."


Now Seifer was pouty, and Squall was glaring at him, which was an odd role reversal from all the times he'd stepped on the wrong landmines with Squall back when they were kids, and Seifer would pound him then take Squall training to distract him. Except, it didn't quite fit, since Zell didn't actually feel badly for accidentally stepping on Seifer's, 'You tried to kill us' landmine seeing as how it was a legitimate argument they should probably have sometime, and Squall wouldn't ever try to pound him outside of training. Hopefully.


"You cheated," said Squall eventually. "I wasn't junctioned, and you were. You cast Fire on me."

Seifer rolled his eyes. "Damn it Squall. If this is going to be a litany of all my past wrongdoings, you should either start at the beginning or skip ahead to the juicier bits."


"Rematch." Squall said succinctly, hand on the hilt of his sword, and Zell was glad they'd skipped the whole pounding him part and gone directly to where they were the only two people in the world. Having seen plenty of fights in the legendary saga of Seifer and Squall, usually from the ground and way too close for comfort, Zell wandered off to the main edifice, although he did see Selphie pulling Cloud to the fight.


He sidestepped the cycle, and looked up at the tower, which looked like it had been retrofitted into a windmill. A few people ran past, eagerly shouting about a spectacle. Apparently they'd been hiding before the battle and hadn't seen Zell, or had been told they weren't threats. Maybe they thought the little skirmish before, with the huge summoning, had also been ashow. In any case, they didn't shy away from him, a few families moving in packs. It was the strangest thing, but while the children all had bandages of some sort, Zell didn't notice any adults with injuries.


At the base of a tower, a small buggy waited, but it looked worse for the wear due to disuse.


"We haven't got around to converting that one yet."


Zell whipped his head around at the voice. The Moomba, Red, was back. Zell had fought him earlier, and although the two eyed each other warily now, neither made any signs of aggression.


"Converting to what?" Zell asked when he was sure the dog wouldn't attack.


"Cloud wants gasoline." Red pronounced the word 'gasoline' like it was a foreign language. "However, I do not see the appeal of riding explosions through the desert. I was thinking of solar, but then the issue of traveling at night comes into play."


"Yeah, but with battery storage, that wouldn't be much to deal with." All of Balamb Garden ran off the huge solar fins, but then, almost the entire bottom half was devoted to energy storage and conversion, designed to run even in a rainstorm. But in the desert, for such a small buggy, that wouldn't be a problem.


"Do you get a lot of rainfall in the area?" Zell asked absently kicking the buggy to flip it onto its back.


Red winced at the rough treatment. "No. The clouds empty out on the Nibelheim Valley on the other side of the Mountain."


Zell examined the underside of the buggy. A flat panel encased its inner workings, with two additional dark black panels on either side. Zell fished out some thin dragon hide scales from his inventory to pry off the paneling, asking Red about the black panels that were additionally screwed on.


"We added those to hamper the absorption" said Red."As part of the new initiative."


"Initiative for what?" Underneath the paneling, there was nothing resembling a conventional engine and transmission workings that Zell "The Machine" Dintch was used to. Instead, the steering mechanism directly correlated to the front axle, with what he assumed was a small encased motor attached to the rear axle, with two fins protruding where the outside black panels had been located, taking up most of the undercarriage space.


"Initiative for the preservation and conservation of MAKO reserves, executive order by President ShinRa."


Zell wasn't really listening, as he poked around the underside more, amazed at the simplicity of the driving motor. The buggy must be propelled by the finned box connected to the rear wheels. He poked at it, but he couldn't open the motor with his makeshift crowbar, and there weren't any screws or fasteners evident. "The hell does this run on?" He wondered aloud.


Red sniffed into the space as Zell sat back on his heels."Ambient MAKO absorption. You should put the panels back on."


"The hells MAKO?" Zell asked, and cast a quick scan on the box. The fins flared a bright green, the same green as Cloud's demon eyes, and the buggy kicked into life. Zell jumped back from the vehicle, and was quickly pounced upon by Red.


"What did you do?" growled Red, but just as quickly as it started, the buggy died down. Red backed off, but his haunches were visibly raised.


"Jeeze, I just cast a quick scan." Zell said as he stood up, brushing himself off.


"The MAKO Initiative prohibits the use of Materia."


"I didn't use any materials except the scale to pry the shell. I just cast a quick scan spell."


Red growled. "Magic," he said, with a deep, gravely, patronizing voice, "derives from Materia, deriving from MAKO. New Shin-Ra Initiative prohibits the use MAKO in all forms."


Zell peered once more at the open buggy engine as he puzzled this through. Eden, who rarely gave him the time of day, squawked indignantly. He cast another spell, a high level Firaga, and jumped back when the buggy roared to life, twisting around the ground before over extending itself and sputtering out.


"It runs on Magic. All those draw spells, ambient MAKO. The deep sea research endeavor..." Zell trailed off as he looked around, disappointed at the realization. "So, this is the future."

Lamest part of Centra ever.


Red looked ready to pounce again, so Zell decided to just cut his losses, replace the buggy panels and maybe catch the tail end of gunblade v. gunblade, round 500.


Back at the main site, battle over, Cloud was quickly pulled aside by Red, assumingly to discuss Zell's spellcasting. Zell relayed to his team what he'd found out.


"The future, huh?" Selphie asked, "You'd think it would be prettier, like Estar, with Ragnarocks flying around."


"They can't have a ban against magic," said Seifer. "That guy Cloud cast Fire the first time we met him."


"Maybe he's an exception," stated Selphie. "They just got over the war, and Cloud was apparently a key player. One of the people he was talking to was the princess and leader of a country called Wutai."


"That's another thing," said Squall, "None of the place names align with our areas. Even if this is Centra, from what Selphie could glean of the geography, we are so far into the future that they've changed the names of places beyond the memory of living history."


"Also, Chicken, I found out for you, they've never even heard of hotdogs."


Zell took a swipe at Seifer, but it was halfhearted at best.


"Stop that," said Squall. "We'll rest in turns. Tomorrow Cloud wants to, quote, 'Wrangle some Chocobos,' in preparation for a trip to a city called Midgar.''


Zell groaned. "So they don't have payphones, trains, hotdogs, or magic, but they have Chocobos?"


"At least you won't be lonely, Chicken."


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Rinoa was getting bored waiting. She hadn't been in a bar fight since that summer she and Seifer had closed out the Timber pub every night, and Zone found out Seifer was trying harder to get to second base with her than busting into the Galbadian Timber base. Earlier in the afternoon, Rude had cracked a pool cue over a guy's head for hitting on Elena, so Rinoa stayed close to him. But he had turned out to be a nice guy, and Elena, between her sobbing bouts, didn't actually need to be protected. Rinoa was fighting an odd urge to leave, to move, to get out there and find Squall, but Quistis seemed to want to rest here and take stock of the situation.


She tried to marshal her thoughts, and stay still. She'd had an odd dream after Time Compression, but she could only recall the faintest hints of it, static, then her mother was there, static, and there were flowers, but the biggest impression was the sense of urgency. This was the wrong place, and Rinoa was worried that if they didn't hurry, they'd never get back home.


Quistis was in charge, though, and she didn't see any reason to rush, and Rinoa wasn't sure where the right place was or what exactly she wanted to do faster, just that she wanted it done soon.


The ShinRa TURKS, Rude had shown her a business card, were holing up in the ShinRa Villa while Tseng, the boss according to Rude, recovered from his most recent trip. They'd been excavating in the Northern Crater, where a meteor had just hit said Rude, right after a building had fallen on him. The big boss, Mr. ShinRa himself, was coming himself to check up on him.


This, Rinoa had learned in the bar, shadowing the huge man and spreading around the red Gil at the bar. Quistis was having no luck charming the same information from Reno, and Rinoa resigned herself to a long wait at the Villa.


Elena was catering to Tseng in the bedrooms; Irvine was relaxing in the Jacuzzi not realizing Rude was planning on joining him. With Quistis keeping Reno occupied, she felt safe in poking around.


The main floor of the Villa held the normal seaside accoutrements, towels and sunscreen and many large beds, and a fully stocked bar that Rude must not have hit yet. Rinoa helped herself to a screwdriver, her mother's favorite drink. Watching the bar girl, Luci- who didn't want to leave the beach but often visited her family in Kalm- wave out the window, she noticed from the outside the easternmost wall of the villa didn't quite line up with the bar's westernmost wall, and sure enough, feeling along the wall, she found an inlet panel. Behind that, a lock. The anticipation increased.


Now, Rinoa had picked many locks in her time. Her father had developed a penchant for locking her in rooms as she'd gotten older, and her time with the Timber Owls had only reinforced her belief that the best things were hidden behind locked doors. This particular lock wasn't any more substantial than those used within the Caraway Manor, but seemed overkill considering that a general on-looker wouldn't even have found it.


She popped the lock, sliding open the wall door, and her sense of urgency multiplied tenfold. Rinoa barely made it down the steps, she was almost vibrating with anticipation. Entering the dank basement area, she scanned past the piles of armor, dismissed the chest of glowing orbs to pounce on a lump of innocent looking linen. In her rush, she knocked over a rack of swords, but the resulting crash didn't stop her in the slightest.


Finally, she got her hands on a box, smaller than a shoebox but lined with lead and taped up the sides. Just holding it gave her some solace, soothed her raging heart.


"Rinoa?" Quistis asked from the basement doorway. Behind her, Reno's green eyes narrowed, and he started to pull out his baton, but Irvine bumped into him from above, clad only in towel and hat, calling out,"Wha?"


Quistis seemed more annoyed at Irvine then Rinoa, but she usually did, like it would be a faux-pas to be annoyed at her. Rinoa, for her part, knew she should probably go easier on the older woman, but right now, with the box in her hands and time slowing back down, she was only grateful her attention was elsewhere.


Back in the main room, there was a new visitor, sitting in awheelchair and draped in the linens from the basement, and Elena and Rude flanked him in the doorway. Rinoa, feeling a surge of power threatening to activate her Angel Wings, felt time crystallize around him.


Quistis started to ask something, but Rinoa cut her off,"What is it?"


The static started in again, but she heard him reply,"Jenova's neck. We scavenged it after the war."


She faded out then, absorbed by box, but she could hear Irvine in the background, "Holy Hyne," he kept saying, "Holy Hyne."


Then, Quistis pulled the box from her hands and she reeled from shock. "Give it back!" Rinoa screeched.


Quistis just stared at her particularly, then asked, cautiously, "Why?"


"It makes me feel more powerful. Like a GF," Rinoa said hesitantly, aware that everyone was watching her. Quistis seemed to mull this over, glancing from the box back to her, all while Irvine kept swearing to Hyne about keeping women's necks in cases.


Suddenly, Quistis's face lit up.


"That's it!" Quistis exclaimed, "Holy Hyne indeed! We pulled Hyne down from the heavens, and he split himself in two! We kept half of him,"she gestured to the box, "and the other half went back to the heavens. The half on earth gave power to the sorceresses."


She passed the box to Irvine, who held it out in disgust at arms length. "We're in the past." She concluded. "Way in the past."


"If this is so important to the future, we'd better find someplace better to keep it safe, Sir." From the bedroom, a dark haired man-Tseng- moved stiffly to take the box from Irvine. He stumbled, and Elena moved to help him. Rinoa wanted to snatch that power from her, but she then passed it to the man in the wheelchair, and once the box was resting in the stranger's hands, the compulsion started to wane. The box disappeared underneath the linen, and gradually that pull was out of sight, out of mind.


"Now, I believe we owe our guests something for that bit of information." The man, it must've been Rufus ShinRa, said, and as she let go of the last of the box's power, he seemed to absorb it. Or, perhaps, he was one of those born politicians, and he was simply naturally commanding attention even disabled and shrouded. Rinoa hadn't been one of those persons before she was asorceress, and she wondered what it would take feel like as a mere human.


Then, Rinoa felt Irvine take her hand, and she surprised Quistis by reaching out for hers, remembering what was important. She closed her eyes, and with her renown clarity and a calm heart replied, "Let's find Squall."


"Then I know just the person. She runs a small bar in Midgar, but when you need something, either goods or information, everyone knows you go to Tifa Lockhart's Delivery. I'll make the call."


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When Selphie said she'd been monitoring Cloud's calls, she meant that she'd monitored his call to Tifa Lockhart, and then the subsequent replies from around the world. Aside from hints at geography and world economy, most of the calls consisted of different people scolding Cloud for not visiting enough. Together, they had apparently saved the world, and Selphie really hoped that if they got home, and if she went back to Trabia, Squall would keep in touch. If not, she decided, she would fly over in the Ragnarok and ambush him, rather than leaving him nagging messages.


This in mind, Selphie pressed closer to Squall's back on the Chocobo. He gave her a quick worried look, but kept his attention on steering the big bird. Flanking Cloud's lead on the opposite side, Zell was having ahard time controlling his bird, especially with Seifer's large frame draped over his back. He was sleeping peacefully now, and although they had decided to rest in shifts, Seifer instead told them to rest up, and he'd keep watch.


Selphie figured he was scared that the Sorceress Jenova would try to take him over again, but when he'd zonked on Zell at the beginning of the journey, he didn't do any of the odd twitching like before, and if She did try to take him over, he'd probably fall off the Chocobo. That would be agood warning.


"You can take a nap too, if you want." Squall's back rumbled her cheek when he talked, shaking her out of her introspection. Thinking about consequences and what-ifs never was fun. She shook her head, and sat up straighter, scanning the horizon over his shoulder. They'd passed out of the desert to grassland for a while, but now they were coming up to desert again and she could make out the blurred outline of an immense tower.


Upon entering the desert, the Chocobos started to lag, and they started to trot them towards the tower. The heat was unbearable, and Selphie scooted as far back from Squall as she could.


"He drooled on me. I want hazard pay." Zell was wiping sweat from his neck with his shirt as Seifer woke up. Selphie laughed as Seifer tried to simultaneously take off his coat and take a swing at Zell. He ended up sliding backward off the Chocobo on his ass.


"Careful," said Cloud as Seifer pulled Zell down with him."This is not the place to get lost in. You could wander the desert for hours, trust me. But we'll stop at the Golden Saucer up ahead, and get fresh Chocobos from Dio for the rest of the trip to Costa del Sol."


Squall too joined in taking off his heavy coat, and wasn't that white wifebeater nice to look at? Selphie gave him a quick snuggle in appreciation and smirked as he rolled his eyes. Seifer was standing around in his vest, looking more like a rent boy without the aristocratic coat and Hyperion tugging down his pants to expose a hipbone. He turned to mount the Chocobo, and without the coat, Selphie could clearly see he'd been hiding a very nice butt.


Zell though, was by far the best.


"Squall, if you have any love for me at all in your heart, you'll switch with me." Seifer said as Zell tossed his jacket up to him on the Chocobo, pulling off his dark tank and using it as a sweat rag. Squall just shook his head with a rueful smile.


"Can it, Loser," Zell replied as he stretched out the kinks from riding all morning in a delightful way. "I can't get too much sweat on my gloves or they'll rust, and this heat is just too much."


"I'll trade!" Selphie volunteered, thinking only of the good of the team. Seifer and Squall held gazes for another Silent Conversation, and Squall must've won, because Seifer just scoffed and turned away. As Zell boarded the Chocobo again, Seifer scouted a bit for some skin-free handholds before simply lacing his fingers through Zell's belt loops.


"Dio's going to love you guys," Cloud muttered once they were on their way again. He, unfortunately, kept his cloak on. "Better you than me."


Dio, a man so big he'd make Raijin look small, did indeed love them, and the group entered the Golden Saucer tower to exclamations of 'Muscles!' He latched on to Zell, pulling him further within the office space. Zell flailed a bit, and Squall, impeccably redressed as if he hadn't just been in hundred-degree heat with an ice goddess junctioned, grabbed him and pulled him to safety, gesturing for Cloud to get down to business.


"Chocobos, Dio. We need three to get to Costa del Sol and grab a boat to Midgar continent."


"Ah, Cloud! You grace my presence yet again!" Dio exclaimed, snatching onto Cloud as if to twirl him around. Cloud hadn't struck Selphie as a touchy-touchy person, but he didn't shrink away and he kept his head held high. "But Chocobos, no, they are not needed! Ms. Lockhart has informed me that the ShinRa have found your lost friends and they are on their way here, en route!"


Squall seemed to sag in relief at this news, and Zell, who'd been hiding behind him, wrapped his arms around him, as if to support him.


"I'm fine, Zell. I just can't wait to see her again," Squall said and, oh yes, Selphie thought, I hope to be in love too if I look like that.


"I know, but I didn't want to say it, but I was scared we'd never get home," Zell said grinningly. Seifer came over and took hold of Zell's hastily donned jacket, lugging him off of Squall.


"We still haven't found a way home yet, just the others."


"But once we're all together again, things will work out. I know they will," Selphie said.


"That's right," Cloud said. "Dio has to oversee the battle tower, but I can show you around the place to kill time waiting. There's an arcade and a sky tram, as well as Chocobo racing and a roller coaster."


"What was that about a Battle Tower?" asked Seifer, and Zell looked excited too, which figured. Now that the others were on the way, Selphie could bemoan the friends she'd been stuck with. A sky tram ride sounded so romantic, although Selphie didn't think her current companions would indulge her. Rinoa would agree and drag Squall, and Irvine would jump at it. Quistis would think it was silly, but Selphie had been working to get her to do more silly things.


"Dio awards battle points to the competitors depending on how well you do against the automated opponents. It's really not for training."


"I would really rather just wait for the others," said Squall.


"Then we should all check into the Haunted Hotel."


Cloud led the way, navigating the tube slides, taking them first to the main interchange.


"Squall!" Selphie cried.


"No, Selphie."


"But it would be so fun! And it would solve the elevator waits..."


"Put it in the Trabia blueprints, and send me a report."


The Haunted Hotel was so chintzy it was cute. Seifer looked around the place with a wary eye as Selphie inspected the décor. Squall went to deposit their inventories in the room, as Zell ran off to the arcade. Cloud lingered at the desk; apparently they were having trouble accessing his old account.


“I don’t like this place. It feels wrong,” muttered Seifer.


“I didn’t have you pegged for a scaredy-cat,” Selphie said, and by the way Seifer jumped he must not have noticed her approach. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell Zell.”


Seifer glanced around the room, before swinging one arm out to pull her into a hug.


“I’m sorry for what I did, kiddo, really I am so sorry,” he whispered in to her hair, and it occurred to her that they were having an Important Conversation.


Selphie liked to leave all her Important Conversations for occasions with more alcohol, or better yet, leave them to other people. “Does this mean you’ll go on the sky tram with me?”


He laughed then, which was what she was aiming for. Trabia still hurt, but she didn’t blame him after taking on the Sorceress’s power herself. Rebuilding was better than revenge, after all.


“Sorry sweet cheeks,” he said, pinching her face, “But Leonheart’s been all over the planet fighting all sorts of monsters while I’ve been wasting my time leading an army. Gonna hit that Battle Tower, see how well I do without that ‘Sorceress boost’ I have gotten used to.”


He strode off with a swish of the long coat and twirl of Hyperion, and a last lingering glance at the doorframe.


She rocked back on her heels, wondering what to do, when Cloud came up from behind, totally not surprising her.


“I’ll go with you,” he said. “On the sky tram. I’d like to ride it again, but not alone.”


He held his hand out to her, and although it was probably against Garden rules, she took it. Together, they took the slides and boarded the tram.


The ride was slow, and Selphie fidgeted in the silence. Cloud was looking out the window, at the Gold Saucer in all its glory, and didn’t seem inclined to conversation, but the quiet wasn’t comfortable to her.


She cleared her breath to get his attention before speaking. “Thank you, by the way. I don’t think any of us has said that yet.”


“Don’t mention it. I’d be worried too, if my friends were lost. Especially in these times. Besides,” he continued, “Being manhandled by Dio isn’t the most embarrassing thing I’ve done for a friend.” He’d pushed the goggles up in the dark, and offered her a soft smile before returning his attention back to the scenery. Selphie fought back a blush; the sky tram was romantic.


“Ah, you said you’d been here before?”


“Yeah, with a friend,” he replied softly, and while he didn’t wear the look of madly in love Squall did, it was close, and Selphie could tell she was on the edge of another Important Conversation. Tifa Lockhart, she remembered. Cloud had worn that look from when he was talking to Tifa Lockhart.


“Well then,” she said, hoping to divert the flow back to playful ground. She liked playful. “You should invite her next time. She’ll be mad if Dio tells her you’re taking such cute girls on rides.”


“She’s dead,” he said shortly, pulling the cloak around him. “Sephiroth killed her, right in front of me.”


Well, this was a much different silence than before, a Very Important Conversation. Selphie wasn’t sure how to proceed.


“I miss her so much,” the Cloud cocoon told her, “I killed him, and things still aren’t better, they’re worse, because I’m not sure what I should be doing. I just want to see her again.”


Quiet and stillness again, and Selphie switched over to his side of the cart, and sat sideways, leaning backwards on him. He stiffened, but didn’t unwrap or move away.


Selphie took a deep breath. “Seifer bombed my home. Before, that was what he was apologizing for. And although I helped take down the Sorceress, it wasn’t revenge. It was to keep that from happening again.”


“I can’t change time, keep the missiles from hitting, though I did my best to divert them. It was wartime, and that means that people die. Many of my friends died,” She paused to wipe a tear, but couldn’t stop now. “I can’t bring them back. However, a lot of my friends didn’t die, and that makes them even more precious to me. Together, we can still live on, remaking our Garden, our home.”


Her eyes clenched, she felt Cloud put an arm around her, and she could hear loud booms. Fireworks, she knew, but she was reliving the wrong memories for fireworks. “Together, we’ll all get back home, and we’ll keep surviving and fighting the whole way.


“I’m sure your friend was wonderful and beautiful, and you miss her, and your heart feels like breaking. But we’re alive, so we have to survive for them, and keep fighting for them. So that when we do die, and everyone it together again, our friends will be so proud of what we make. Then they’d forgive us for letting them die, and they’d want me to be happy. Don’t you think that she’d want you to be happy?”


‘Yeah’ was all he said, and she cried a bit, then together they watched the fireworks, perhaps just sniffling a bit, and Selphie realized that, much as she loved her friends, this was one conversation she’d needed a stranger for.


The tram slowed to a stop.


“Thanks,” she said. “And I’m sorry for before. It’s been a hard week.”


“Don’t mention it,” Cloud repeated. “Thank you. For the ride, I mean. I am honored to have taken a ride with such a cute girl.” And now he was the one blushing, and Selphie figured that, before the wars and the scars and the sadness, he’d probably been really shy. She’d always liked shy boys.


They disembarked, and Cloud squinted in the distance. “That’s a ShinRa copter. Thought that was a long time for a jet.”


She ran and jumped in the tube, and on the other end she paused just long enough to take in the sight of her friends and let out a sigh of relief.


“Irvine!” she cried, launching herself at him. He twirled her around in an enthusiastic hug, knocking his hat to the ground.


“You been crying, baby?” he asked as he set her down.


“No,” she said, smiling as she wiped the last of the tears from her face. “I’m just so happy to see you guys.”


She leaned against him for support, and he tipped his hat too Zell, as he and Seifer conversed with Quisty. Rinoa was thanking men in black suits, but she turned around just as Squall poked his head out of the transport tube.


They held hands, and he kissed her lightly on the forehead. Then he pulled her close, and both of them had an aura of serene peace, like they were the only two people in the world, even though everybody was watching them.


“It’s amazing, isn’t it?” She whispered.


“I won you some tissues,” Seifer said sneering at the couple, “If the sight of Leonheart and my ex moves you to tears. Though, it’s boring me to tears. Wanna show them up, make out a little, Instructor?”


Quisty, who once would’ve snapped at him, just smiled, “I’ll have you know, I picked up a very cute red-head near the seaside while you were away.”


“Hey, hey, I got the high score on snowboarding!” exclaimed Zell, “How amazing is that?”


Selphie was together with her friends, laughing like they hadn’t in a long time, like she couldn’t imagine doing ever again inside Ultimeca’s castle.


“Tissues, boy-toys, and snowboarding,” Irvine said. “All things to be proud of. All I got this whacked-out vacation is a ripped coat. Let’s rest, and tomorrow, we’ll work on getting home.”