FicWad

TRABIA

"I thought it was love, but I've come to realize it wasn't. It was my childhood feelings as a big sister that lingered." -- Quistis Trepe



Irvine leaned against the lip of the fountain, crossed his arms, and tried to ignore the slow, sick churning in his stomach.

Fisherman's Horizon technicians had finished their repairs on Balamb Garden's engines yesterday afternoon, in the same hour that Selphie had strenuously demanded release from the infirmary, where she had been recovering from exhaustion. As B-Garden disengaged from its unintentional docking at FH and began the slow journey north, the hum from its newly repaired engines now nearly inaudible, Selphie had been streaking toward her quarters, wrapped in a sheet ripped from a hospital bed. An indignant Doctor Kadowaki and an amused Irvine had trailed after her.

He raised his chin and peered out from under the brim of his hat. Selphie, who was nervously hopping in place and swinging her arms vigorously, was now fully recovered and fully clothed. And Irvine was definitely no longer amused.

His stomach lurched again. The sick feeling inside him was growing stronger, and he wished for the hundredth time that he didn't have to tell them. But he knew that he had to, and from the moment he had cornered Seifer in the cafeteria and asked for this expedition to Trabia, he'd known that he would.

It had been easier in Deling City. He hadn't been sure until he'd seen her in person, and after that there hadn't been time to make revelations. He'd tried to tell himself that it was better that the others didn't know. He'd planned to tell them after, and had been prepared to face their anger when they'd realized what he'd done; better angry at him than guilty about what their own actions, he figured. But he hadn't counted on his own weakness, or Seifer's strength.

"Where are they?" Selphie said, unknowingly voicing his own opinion.

"There's Zell," he said, pointing.

The sound of sneakers squeaking against the marble floor grew louder, and Zell greeted them with a wave and a smile. "Where's Seifer?"

"I dunno," said Selphie. "Who's that?" she said suddenly, as a young platinum-haired woman with a severe look on her face approached.

Irvine shrugged, taking in her eyepatch and masculine garb.

"That's Fujin," said Zell. "She's on the DC. One of Seifer's friends."

Fujin stopped a little way from them, clasped her hands behind her back, and stared at the wall opposite her.

"When's Seifer gonna be here?" Selphie asked her loudly. Fujin's gaze slid to the side for a moment, but she did not answer.

Selphie frowned momentarily, then stood on one leg and peered over her shoulder at the heel of her boot. Irvine watched as she switched feet, and his stomach settled briefly.

"There he is," said Zell, and even Fujin turned her head to watch Seifer skirt the Directory as he approached them from the elevator, Rinoa in tow.

"Ready?" Seifer said. Selphie nodded quickly and hopped in place, clearly impatient. "Raijin's going to take Garden for a spin, see how it handles the mountains around here. He'll be back in an hour."

The entrance to Garden's outer court had been replaced with a mottled blue and cream wall when the school tore free from the ground the week before. This new wall detached and swung outward, forming a ramp from the belly of B-Garden to the ground. Cool Trabia air slipped in through the wide opening, curling around and past them into the Garden proper.

The six of them trooped out onto a gray flat space just east of a cliff wall. To their east were the green and gray plains of Trabia, and to the north Irvine could see white-capped mountains. Above them, long-tailed birds glided through the sky, calling to each other with faint, musical cries. The sun was warm on his face, but the breeze was persistent and cold, and he was glad he had worn his coat.

"Where's T-Garden?" said Zell, looking around.

"We're really close," Selphie said, hurrying forward. "It's set in a depression so you can't see it unless you're right on top of it."

The ground trembled and the faint thrum of Garden's engines sounded in his ears. A minute later it glided over their heads, its wide base rotating slowly and glowing blue and green. The sun gleamed on its outer shell as it traveled north.

Irvine watched Selphie trail her fingers along the jagged edge of the cliff face as she walked. Zell and Rinoa looked eastward over the sun-dappled plains, where a herd of dual-horns was grazing, too distant to be alarmed by the presence of humans. Seifer, like Selphie, looked forward, waiting for the break in the cliff face to appear.

Fujin, Irvine was startled to realize, was watching him watch the others. But when he nodded to her her gaze slid back toward the ground, over which loose stones were scattered, treacherously waiting to roll the ankles of unwary walkers.

Irvine looked again toward Selphie, who had broken free of their party and ranged ahead. She stood, fingers still touching the wall of rock beside her, and seemed to be staring at the point where the cliff began again, several hundred yards ahead of her. From his vantage point at the rear of the company, he couldn't see for sure, but he assumed they had reached the recess where Trabia lay hidden.

Selphie's hesitation was only momentary; she straightened her shoulders and darted around the edge of the cliff and out of sight.

Irvine and the others followed more slowly.

Selphie stood in front of T-Garden's gates, her back to Irvine and her arms limp at her side. Beyond her, he could see the scorched and shattered wreckage of what had once been her home. The gates had been melted by the heat of the missiles' explosion, twisted into a solid wall of metal. On either side of the gates, the outer walls of the building had been blown away; crumbled in some places, missing entirely in others, and in a few sad spots still curving resolutely upward, trying to support a ceiling that was no longer there.

Irvine watched Selphie pick her way through one of the gaps in the walls and disappear behind the gates. He rushed to follow her and caught her by the arm as she ran toward the middle of the campus.

She was crying, but she looked more angry than sad.

"Selphie," he said.

"Listen," she said fiercely, not looking at him. "I'll meet you by the fountain up there in a bit. I just want to look around and see if there's anyone here, okay?" She tugged her arm out of his grasp and dashed forward.

He turned back to look at the others. They were picking their way carefully through the rubble toward him, and he relayed her message.

"We may as well go wait for her," said Seifer.

"Yeah, I don't think I want to see any more," said Zell sadly. He carried a singed, blackened backpack in his hands. As Irvine watched, Zell crouched and set it carefully back on the ground.

The fountain was nearly untouched, though the water in it was gone. They stood on a patch of empty, cracked pavement. Rinoa sat on the edge of the fountain, her chin in her hands, and gazed at the ground.

The waiting was not made easier by the frequent, echoing cries of Selphie, calling out for anyone who was still there to respond. It was clear to Irvine that the place was completely deserted. Whether the inhabitants of T-Garden had accepted Squall's offer of placement within Galbadia or had simply fled, Irvine didn't know.

Eventually, Selphie returned. Her hands were filthy, but her face was composed.

"Let's get out of here," she said at once.

The others began to move, but Irvine screwed up his courage and said, "Wait."

Everyone looked at him, and he realized suddenly that his hands were sweating. "I have something I need to tell you," he said, looking around at them.

Rinoa lowered herself back onto the edge of the fountain, watching him.

"It's about Edea," Irvine said, sighing. "I couldn't understand, when we went to Deling City, why you were so cavalier about what we were going to do. I thought maybe you just hadn't made the connection. But after, when we were in D-District and later, and nobody mentioned it, I finally got it: you guys just don't remember."

"Remember what?" Seifer said sharply.

Irvine grimaced. "I knew right when I met you in Galbadia Garden. The moment I saw you." He looked at Zell and Selphie's puzzled faces, and then at Seifer, who looked annoyed and skeptical.

"Cut to the chase, Kinneas," he said, scowling.

"Bear with me, Seifer." He couldn't stop himself then; he began to pace. "I was raised in an orphanage before I came to Galbadia Garden. There were a lot of kids there who'd lost their parents in the Sorceress War. I wish I knew where the orphanage was. I've tried looking them all up, but there were a fair few back then and I've had no luck."

He spoke slowly, wondering if they would remember, but knowing either way that he had done his duty in telling them and that his conscience could rest easy about them, at least. His duty to Edea was another story, but they would all tackle that problem together.

"I remember that it was on the beach. It was a stone building, and the ocean was behind it. There was a meadow to one side, and I used to run through it. The wildflowers were taller than I was…"

"The lighthouse," said Selphie, her voice full of wonder. "We weren't supposed to go there, it was dangerous. But we wanted to… and I think we might have, once..."

Irvine bowed his head, relieved. He'd worried that they wouldn't remember at all, that he'd simply look foolish and fond of melodrama.

"That's amazing, Irvine!" Selphie exclaimed, a delighted smile on her face, the wreckage around them forgotten. "We were at the same orphanage, I can't believe it!"

Irvine smiled back at her. "That's not all," he said, looking toward Zell and Seifer. Both seemed far away in thought.

"I was there," Seifer said after a moment, but did not elaborate.

Irvine nodded, and looked questioningly at Zell. As he watched, Zell's expression turned from one of concentration to one of bewilderment.

"You set off fireworks," he said finally. "But you should have waited… I ran to tell… to tell…I don't remember!"

Zell stumbled backwards and sat heavily on the edge of the fountain next to Rinoa. "How can I remember this? I'm not an orphan, I have a mother!" he said. He bent forward and put his hands in his face. "I thought I did," he said, his voice muffled.

There was a short silence as the rest of them tried not to look at Zell's trembling shoulders.

"You always were a crybaby," Seifer said at last, but there was no cruelty in his words. "I don't know what you're upset about. If anyone should be pissed of it's me. I sure as hell didn't get adopted."

"Neither did Squall Leonhart," he continued, fixing Irvine with a piercing stare. "Or Quistis Trepe."

"I think she did, actually," said Irvine.

Seifer shrugged. "I don't remember much about her, just that she was always trailing around after Leonhart." He smiled nastily. "That's pretty much all I remember from recent years, too."

Rinoa spoke up. "What about you, Fujin? Were you there?"

Fujin stiffened. She glared at Rinoa as though the girl had slapped her, although from what Irvine could tell, Rinoa was trying to be friendly.

"No," mused Seifer. "Raijin and Fujin are orphans, but they were raised in Galbadia." Fujin's gaze shot from Rinoa to Seifer. A look of shock and hurt flashed over her face for a moment but was replaced almost instantly with her usual expression of bored disinterest.

"But why didn't we remember before?" Selphie said suddenly. "You said you knew as soon as you met us, but why didn't we recognize you? Why didn't we remember?"

"I think it's because I never junctioned a GF until very recently. It wasn't part of the sniper program at G-Garden," he said. He'd been turning the idea over ever since Deling City, and it seemed to fit.

"But I thought that was just a rumor, GFs causing memory loss," she said.

Irvine shrugged, and Seifer spoke up again. "It doesn't matter why. Irvine, you said this was about Edea."

They were getting to the crux of it, Irvine knew, and he found that his stomach was strangely calm.

"Matron," said Zell. He emerged from behind his hands, looking unhappy. "She ran the orphanage."

Selphie raised her hand and touched the upturned tips of her reddish-brown hair. "She had long, black hair. I remember that. She was so pretty. And she was so nice!" she gasped. "How can that awful woman be our Matron?"

"That's what I don't know," said Irvine. "I remember her that way too, but it's definitely her, and I don't understand how she could have turned out this way." He sighed. "I just thought you guys should know. I mean," and he looked at Seifer, "she's our goal. We're going to kill her… right?"

There was a long moment of silence.

"Yeah," said Seifer finally. "We are." Seifer looked at Zell and Selphie, and then Irvine. "Look, people change. She changed. Whatever she used to be doesn't matter, she's dangerous and crazy now and she's got to be stopped."

"But kill her?" Irvine said.

Seifer stared at him, and then said, "It's like with a dog. If your dog goes rabid, it has to be put down, no matter how little you want to do it."

Everyone stared at Seifer. Then Zell ventured, "You have a dog?"

"Of course not," Seifer snapped. "I just know how it works."

Behind him, Rinoa was smiling, the first smile Irvine had seen on her since the missile base.

"Anyway, that's not the point. We've still got a job to do, and knowing the past doesn't change that. If you feel like you can't do it, well, I won't make you."

There was another silence. Selphie was looking again at the rubble surrounding them, Zell was staring at the ground, and Irvine was remembering Edea's sneering words to the cheering crowd that night in Deling City and the cold smile he had seen through the scope of his sniper rifle.

"You're right," said Selphie, gazing at Trabia's ruined walls. "She's not the person she was when we were little. Even if she is our Matron, I'm going to fight her." Irvine gazed at her in admiration, feeling ashamed. Selphie had made the decision easily and he knew she'd follow through with it.

Zell looked up at Seifer. "I'm in," he said simply.

Seifer nodded, and turned to Irvine. "I need someone who knows Galbadia Garden. We're going to go after them with everything we've got, and then I'm going to take a few inside and we're going to finish it."

The thought of creeping through Galbadia Garden, intent on killing Edea, came to him. He felt an unhappy twinge in his chest, but it was weak.

"Yeah, I'll do it," he said.

+++++

Fujin stared out of the windows at the glinting water and tuned out Raijin's burbling, happy voice as he deftly manipulated Garden's controls. She watched the dark strip of land to the east that was Galbadia slide slowly by and tried not to feel useless and unhappy.

They would reach the orphanage sometime tomorrow. Selphie, Zell, and Irvine had wanted to see it, Cid had told them where it was, and Seifer had allowed it, just as he had allowed the trip to Trabia. It was something to do in the meantime, while they tried to locate Galbadia Garden and its sorceress, but she didn't understand why any of them wanted to see it. Nostalgia was the term for it, she knew, but that didn't mean it made any sense. She could remember the orphanage she had grown up in, and had no desire to see it ever again.

Fujin already knew how it would play out. Just as with Trabia, she would go down with them, say nothing, and spend the time watching her friendship with Seifer slip though her fingers. She would go with them because Seifer was going, because he had asked her to go with them into the sorceress's lair, but mostly because not going would be admitting that the Posse was finished. But it would be a feeble gesture.

She knew in her heart that it was already over.

She understood that people sometimes grew apart as they got older, but whenever she had tried picturing the end of the Posse it had not been like this. Not this quick, gentle, unnoticed dissolve that left the shell of their friendship intact and the inside hollow. She'd always imagined explosions.

Raijin and Seifer had been her first and only friends. She couldn't remember ever being close to anyone else, and she thought it had been true for Seifer too. But she had learned two days ago in Trabia that he had had friends long before she had ever met him, and as much as she wanted to deny it, Seifer already belonged more to them than to her and Raijin. It was an old bond, stronger than Fujin's seven years of loyalty, and it hurt.

She looked at Raijin beside her, still going on about how magnificent Garden was. Raijin hadn't noticed that anything was different. He was in love with B-Garden, and this was the infamous straw, the one that made her throat ache whenever she dwelled on it. Seifer was a loose cannon, and she'd always half-suspected that he would pull some insane stunt, go crazy, or get himself killed in some spectacular manner. But she'd always thought she'd have Raijin, after.

If she had something to do, it might not have been so bad. Raijin had been sucked with absolutely no protest into the Head Pilot position. Irvine had been spending most of his time in the office below the bridge, poring over maps of Galbadia Garden. Selphie had been spending her time driving the Armsmaster out of his mind, and Fujin had even seen Rinoa in the Training Centre, panting and sweating, holding a sword with trembling wrists in a standard guard position while a patient instructor lectured her. And, of course, Seifer had thrown himself into the task of readying SeeD for battle with all of his considerable determination.

The first change he had made was to scrap the rule that forbade students from carrying weapons outside of trips to the Training Centre. He had neatly reversed it, forbidding even the most junior students from leaving their dormitories without being armed, with the addendum that SeeDs were to be garbed in full battle gear at all times. Fujin's first trip to the cafeteria after this was implemented had been surreal; the sounds of voices raised in gossip and laughter were exactly the same as they always were, but sunlight had glinted off a hundred battle helmets and there were no kneesocks in sight.

Seifer had Xu running emergency drills several times a day. The klaxon was the signal for SeeDs to swarm out of every corner of Garden toward whatever destinations she had designated over the PA system. The first drill that had included junior classmen had resulted in a furious Xu commandeering the main assembly hall for a mass dressing-down. Less than half of the underclassmen had responded to the drill at all, apparently having tuned out the announcement while the SeeDs were being directed to the library and the cafeteria. She'd shouted at the top of her voice into a megaphone at them for nearly twenty minutes, her fury audible even from the bridge. Seifer had gravitated to the noise and glanced in, but Xu had them well in hand and he'd left, looking satisfied.

Garden was full of excited bustle these days. The Training Centre was so swamped that all but the most belligerent monsters had taken to hiding in the bushes. GFs were exploding into being in every open space available, so that the inner court looked like ground zero for a fireworks display.

"Want to give it a go, Fujin?"

She blinked and looked sideways at Raijin, who was indicating the controls and grinning.

She stared at him for a moment, then kicked him with a steel-toed boot. Raijin yelped and jumped up and down on one foot, clutching his shin. For a moment, things felt almost normal, but it passed quickly.

"Look, that's the last of Galbadia," he said. She looked, and saw that the smudged line of land to the east ended several miles to the south. Beyond it was open water, and Centra.

Tomorrow, she thought, but she felt no anticipation.

"Lunch," she said.

Raijin, eyes on the waves below, didn't answer, and she knew that for him she wasn't there at all.

She took the small lift down to the office. Seifer and Irvine bent over a map on the second desk, heads together. Seifer had a finger planted on the map, and Irvine was shaking his head. The old Seifer would never have been caught dead talking to someone like Irvine, and she felt the sharp edge of mourning again. The old Seifer would have taught anyone who dared to ask questions about her past life a sharp lesson.

Neither looked up as she passed.

Alone in the elevator, she pressed the heels of her hands into her eyes, grateful for the small, quiet space. She removed her hands from her face just before the door whooshed open, and was glad she had, for Rinoa and Selphie piled into the elevator, the latter laughing loudly.

"Hey, Fujin!" Selphie said cheerfully.

"Hi," said Rinoa.

Fujin nodded reluctantly and slid past them into the inner court. There was silence behind her before the doors closed, and she stood in front of the elevator feeling lost and slightly embarrassed.

She'd been intending to eat but now she wasn't hungry. She set off aimlessly along the curved walkway toward the Quad, dodging SeeDs who scurried past her, intent on their errands. She turned into the corridor to the Quad, wanting a little peace and unwilling to retreat to her quarters.

It was a beautiful, sunny day, and she'd been dead wrong in thinking the Quad might be deserted. Seifer had been adamant about GF training, as GFs were SeeD's big advantage over soldiers who only used paramagic, and there was limited room inside. Everywhere she looked, SeeDs stood, concentrating hard, and GFs streaked through the air overhead, pale and transparent in the bright sunshine.

Appalled at the din, Fujin stood rooted to the spot. Frustration flashed through her-- all she wanted was a little fresh air and quiet.

The klaxon screamed. The noise was earsplitting; she was standing right under the speaker.

"DRILL TIME/," Xu's voice rang through the speaker. "/EVEN NUMBERED SEEDS TO THE DORMITORY ENTRANCE. ODD NUMBERED SEEDS TO THE FRONT GATE. UNDERCLASSMEN RING THE SECOND FLOOR HALLWAY. ANYONE USING THE ELEVATOR WILL WISH THEY'D NEVER BEEN BORN. YOU HAVE THREE MINUTES."

The speaker fell silent. Cadets and SeeDs parted around Fujin as they ran to the door, jostling her and each other. She elbowed her way forward into the Quad, irritably aware that she was in the way, and sank down onto a bench in the shade.

Within seconds the Quad was empty. Fujin sighed, leaned her head against the back of the bench, and tried to relax. She'd have at least a half hour of peace, and maybe then she'd be hungry.

A scraping sound reached her ears and she realized she wasn't alone after all. She turned her head slightly and looked for the source of the noise.

She recognized Zell Dincht immediately. Nobody else she knew had that awful haircut.

He was riding a T-board, veering in an arc along the Quad's balcony, his body in the graceful slouch that seemed to be the standard posture for T-boarders. As she watched, he crouched slightly and launched himself off the board. The bottom edge of his shoe snagged the side of board as he rose into the air, and she thought briefly that he was going to fall when he came back down. But the board began to spin neatly along its length underneath him, and she realized it had been intentional. A moment later he landed on the surface of the board with effortless timing, and continued along his curve.

He spun the board again, this time with the other foot. She was impressed against her will; he made it look easy, and she was certain that it wasn't.

Then he rode the T-board straight up into the air. When his body was almost horizontal to the ground his feet left the board. One hand shot out and touched it, and then he was moving too fast for her to pick out the individual movements of his aerial acrobatics. He was touching the board with just two fingers when gravity reasserted itself, and she watched happily, happily prepared to stroll down to the infirmary and request medical aid, but then the board was under his feet again and he was shooting toward the ground. He leaned back, but the board still scraped gently along the floor of the Quad.

"Tch," she heard him say.

Fujin snorted. Then she scowled, but he hadn't heard her.

Dincht zoomed nearer, and she saw that he was sweating heavily, which was understandable with the hot sun and the effort required for what he was doing. He was red-faced, and looked unhappy.

She watched him thoughtfully. He was on Seifer's strike team too, part of the Centra orphanage gang, and obviously had as little to do as she did. She remembered his reaction to the news that he was adopted, and the knowledge that someone other than her thought the orphanage deal was utter crap made her feel a bit better. Someone else was as bored and miserable as she was.

She brightened.

Zell noticed her then, and raised his hand in greeting. "What's up?" he said absently as he whizzed past.

"Not much," she replied.

Zell's head swiveled back toward her, his mouth open in surprise. Then he crashed into a trashcan and flew face first into a potted tree.

Fujin smirked and stood up.

Lunchtime!

+++++

Seifer stood on the bridge and watched Centra flow by. Today had turned out to be windy, much to Raijin's displeasure, and the sky was thickly spotted with clouds. Garden slid through patches of sunlight and shadow, and outside the air was as cool as it had been in Trabia.

But Trabia had smelled green and fresh, and Centra stank of rot and contamination. The fetid smell had permeated through B-Garden's ventilation system within an hour of their ascent onto land. He had Raijin flying Garden low over the ground, the better to examine the landscape, but he would probably fly them a bit higher soon to try and evade the stench.

Centra seemed to be a strange combination of desolation and lurid growth. They'd passed over a lush forest a few minutes ago that had been appallingly green compared to the dun earth surrounding it.

Seifer stared at the ground; they were passing over another wide depression where the earth seemed to have sunk. The dirt there was gray and the grass was a sickly yellow-green, veined thickly with black, rotting vegetation. He suspected that the sinkhole was glowing faintly, but then they passed into sunlight again and he couldn't tell.

"It looks a lot better," Cid said cheerfully beside him.

"You're kidding," Seifer said.

"Oh no. It was much worse ten years ago."

The sinkhole passed underneath them and Seifer fancied that the stench increased. "I don't remember it smelling like this."

"Well, the Cape of Good Hope is on the very western edge of Centra. It escaped the worst of the Lunar Cry, and anyway the wind comes in from the sea there. But that's one of the reasons we planted the flower field."

"The smell? What was the other reason?"

"Edea liked flowers," said Cid simply. "Poppies, jeweled doilies, dragon's eyes. All sorts. Long grasses, too. We didn't plant roses though, not with you kids around. Thorns, you know."

A flash of memory came to him: hiding in the grass, the scent of flowers and the buzzing of insects all around him, waiting to spring out onto Zell, who tended to scream piercingly when surprised.

"How close are we?"

"Just a few minutes, I think."

"Boss," said Raijin slowly, but Seifer had seen it too.

Time seemed to stretch. His eyes were fixed on the red gleam on the horizon, and as if in a dream, his hand reached out and pressed the button that activated the klaxon. Its shrill cry echoed faintly up the elevator shaft.

"Full speed, Raijin," he murmured. "And get us down as low as you can."

He reached for the microphone to the PA system, still feeling as though the air was as thick as molasses. His fingers wrapped around the microphone's silver stem and time seemed to snap like a rubber band back to its normal pace.

"This is not a drill!" he barked into the microphone. "We're going to be stepping all over Galbadia Garden in less than five minutes, so listen up! SeeD ranks ten through thirty assemble at the main entrance; ranks one through nine, form up behind them. A-ranks, I want you patrolling the second floor, make sure you've got your comms. Underclassmen ring the inner court. Instructors, I want you with them. Strike team and Xu: meet me in front of the elevator."

As he spoke, Balamb Garden dipped closer to the ground and accelerated. Ahead of them, Galbadia Garden hovered, looking like a blood tick suspended in the air.

"I repeat: this is not a drill…" He repeated his orders, watching G-Garden grow closer.

He turned the microphone off and the klaxon resumed its wailing. He planted both hands on the control panel and glanced at the security monitors Raijin had installed with the help of the FH technicians. Already he could see people arriving in the inner court.

"Are we at full speed yet?" he said, turning back to the window and the view of G-Garden.

"Just about, boss."

"Good. Don't slow down." He narrowed his eyes, straining to see what direction G-Garden was facing. They weren't moving, so he was sure they hadn't seen Balamb Garden approaching yet. With luck, the Galbadians wouldn't notice anything until they were right on top of them.

"What are you going to do?" said Cid anxiously. Seifer glanced at him; the headmaster's pace was as pale as milk.

"We're going to knock them out of the sky," said Seifer. He turned to Raijin. "Ram into them-- get them on the ground. Set us down facing their main entrance and give us about a hundred yards. I want all their attention focused on SeeD."

"Are you going to try and take Galbadia Garden?" said Cid, sounding strained.

"We're going to get the sorceress," he said. "We'll play the rest by ear." Seifer pulled out the comm device that had been in his pocket for three days and held it out to Cid. "Trade me."

The headmaster fumbled in his pockets for a moment and withdrew a smaller version of the device. Seifer took it from him, and Cid wrapped his fingers around the master comm like it was a snake that might bite him.

"You're on message relay. This button for Xu, this one for me," he said, pointing. "Broadcast with this. The A-ranks each have one, and they may be calling for backup if Galbadia's together enough to deploy paratroops."

"You're going to leave eight SeeDs to defend the second floor?" Cid said nervously.

"Yes," he said shortly.

Seifer turned away from him, looking again at Galbadia Garden. They'd covered half the distance between them while he'd been talking. How much time did they have? Two minutes? Three at the most, he thought. "I've got to get down there," he said to Raijin. "Warn us before we hit."

"Sure thing, boss."

Time seemed to lose cohesion again, but this time it leapt forward, so that Seifer felt like a stone skipping across the surface of a pond. One moment he was on the bridge lift, sinking to the office below, Cid and Raijin wishing him luck. The next he was in the emergency stairwell, the handrail hard under his hand as he launched himself over it onto the next set of stairs, and in hardly any time at all he was skirting the administrative column on the first floor, the klaxon filling the air with its wails.

The inner court was crowded with SeeDs and underclassmen. Xu was among them, standing on the edge of the Directory's planter, her megaphone at her mouth and her free hand pointing arriving SeeDs to their positions. When he reached the elevator his strike team was waiting for him. He nodded to them and winced as he passed under the speaker.

He yanked the comm out of his pocket. "Turn that siren off!" he shouted into it.

A moment later the air rang with the shouts of people who had been trying to hear each other over the noise, and Xu was wending her way through lower level SeeDs toward him.

Seifer strode forward to meet her. She looked cool and unruffled, her mussed hair where she had run a hand through it the only indication of stress. His respect for her rose a notch.

"What's the plan?" she said.

"Raijin's going to get them on the ground," he said, speaking fast. "Take the main group out onto the plain and keep G-Army busy. If you can push through into their Garden, do it, but keep them together. Right now it's strictly in and out; we'll slip in behind you and go for the sorceress, but they might have the whole Galbadian army stuffed in there and you're just a distraction. You may have to retreat fast. Keep them together," he repeated.

Xu nodded. "What about these?" She gestured at the lower level SeeDs on either side of the Directory.

"Split 'em. Fan half across the entrance here and station the others just outside. With any luck they won't see any action at all."

The klaxon screamed again for a few seconds, and Raijin's excited voice sounded over the PA system. "Everybody hold on to something, we're about to crash into them, you know?"

"This is it," Seifer yelled, grabbing Xu's arm and yanking her toward the Directory. He just had time to latch onto the Directory's planter with one hand when Balamb Garden smashed into Galbadia Garden with the speed and violence of a rushing train.

The noise was incredible, louder even than the still-wailing klaxon, a snarling CRUNCH of buckling metal and breaking glass. The klaxon went silent as Seifer tried to swing Xu toward the Directory and he could hear the shouts of other people who had not been completely prepared. He was still gripping Xu's forearm; she had not had the chance to grasp anything.

The floor began to tilt as B-Garden continued pressing into the other academy, trying to push it into the ground. Garden groaned and creaked underneath the awful grinding sound of its outer shell scraping against Galbadia Garden's. Water sloshed out of the fountains and trickled over the floor.

Xu twisted under his hand and seized his forearm in return. Seifer renewed his grip on the planter and grimaced in effort; the floor was still tilting and his arms and shoulders were taking on more of their weight.

"Here we go!" Raijin shouted joyfully over the PA system.

Somewhere below them, Galbadia Garden struck the earth with, the deep THUD it made as it scraped through the ground overlaid by a sound like a gunshot, as if something large and metal had snapped in two. The floor pitched alarmingly and the water falling over the edges of the fountains slipped down the steep slope of the floor toward the main entrance.

For a worried moment Seifer thought they might flip entirely, but then Xu lost her footing completely and all thought left him. Her entire weight hung off his arm and Seifer gritted his teeth with the effort of keeping both her and the planter in his grip. The muscles in his upper body burned and screamed in protest.

And then Balamb Garden was free. Raijin pulled them up into the air, and with all the strength he could muster, Seifer yanked Xu toward him. She stumbled into him and hit him over the head accidentally with her megaphone.

"Sorry," she shouted. He grabbed her around the torso, but it was wasted effort; Garden rocked in the opposite direction, straining to reach equilibrium, and they were pressed safely into the planter. Seifer let her go and reached for his comm.

"Where are we?" he said, pressing the button that would reach Cid.

"/Raijin's setting us down right now/," came the tinny reply.

"I want that ramp opened as soon as we do. And tell him not to power down."

"/Got it/."

Seifer turned to Xu. "This is it. Get them out there as soon as that ramp's down."

"Yes, sir," she said. Her eyes glinted as she pulled herself back on top of the planter and raised the megaphone to her mouth.

He left her there, already shouting instructions, and returned to the elevator and his squad. Irvine and Selphie looked flushed and excited, Zell and Rinoa grim, and Seifer knew it would take more than a sloping floor to crack Fujin's cool façade.

"That was fun!" Selphie said immediately. "Can we do it again?" Irvine chortled as the others gave her disbelieving looks.

"Maybe later," Seifer said, and she crowed and dug her elbow into Irvine's ribs. "But we've got a job to do first."

Behind him, the ramp was opening, shedding daylight into Garden. A strong gust of wind swirled green and brown leaves over them. One caught in Rinoa's hair.

"So what are we doing?" said Zell.

Seifer glanced over his shoulder. SeeD was already flowing down the ramp, and Xu had turned her attention to the backup forces.

"Irvine here thinks he can get us in a side door. SeeD's going to distract G-Army, and with any luck we can slip past them and get to Edea."

"When are we going?" said Rinoa.

Over his shoulder he watched the lower ranks spread themselves across the main corridor.

"Now," he said. He turned and shouldered his way through the line of SeeDs.

The wind was stronger on the ramp, pulling at his long coat and making his eyes water. He ignored it and squinted toward Galbadia Garden.

G-Garden was upright, and just as he had directed, Raijin had set them down so that they faced each other. Galbadia Garden had not had time to wheel around before they had struck; they had plowed through the earth sideways, carving a long furrow in the soil.

Beside him, Irvine swore softly. "We wanted to get in that side," he said, pointing at the deep groove in the earth that exposed part of the underbelly of G-Garden. "There's an access door at ground level, but it will be too high up now."

"The other side?" Seifer suggested.

"There isn't a door there. But the dirt's all bunched up-- if there's enough of it we might be able to climb right up to the second floor."

The dormitories were on the first floor, he knew. If they could bypass the first floor completely they would probably avoid most of the troops.

"Sounds good to me."

Blue-clad soldiers were already milling at Galbadia Garden's main gate, and he scanned the crowd in front of him for Xu. He found her at the rear of the main force, stalking aggressively back and forth along the line. Over the wind he could hear her amplified voice urging them forward.

"Let's do it," he said. As they broke through the ranks of reinforcements he felt excitement rise up in him, hot and red, and he drew Hyperion. Finally, after all those empty days of waiting, he was going to deal out justice, and he was going to do it with the edge of his gunblade.

He skirted the rear line of the loose SeeD formation, aiming for the buried side of G-Garden, and as he approached the curved corner of Garden's front face he heard the first crash of combat. He ran, coat and comrades behind him, the clash of metal weaponry and the weird cries of the Guardian Forces a roar in his ears.

When they cleared the corner, the noise dropped off. Loose dirt and chunks of clay had been gouged up by Garden's slide, and just at the top of the swell of earth a series of windows reflected the afternoon sunlight.

He pointed at the first window above them. "Where does that lead?"

Irvine peered up at the window and thought for a moment. "There's a gymnasium a little farther, it's got windows. But that's probably the reception room."

"Should be empty then," Seifer mused.

Irvine shrugged. "I'd say so."

"Stay here," Seifer ordered, and slung Hyperion over his back. He advanced on the hill of earth and tested it with his foot. The dirt was loose, but not as soft as he had feared, and as he scrambled to the top his boots sent small showers of soil cascading down the mound.

Crouching at the top, he cautiously raised his head over the windowsill and examined the room. It was the reception room; it looked just as he remembered and it was empty. He ran his fingers along the edges of the window, looking for a way to open it, but he suspected that they weren't meant to open at all.

Seifer tapped the glass with his fingers and cocked his head, listening.

"Zell," he called over his shoulder. "Come up here."

In seconds Zell was at his side, looking alert and ready for anything.

"Think you can break it without getting hurt?"

Zell's bright-eyed gaze turned to the window. He considered the glass for a moment, then drew his metal-knuckled fist back and punched the window hard. The glass shattered, spraying the carpeted floor of the reception room with sharp fragments.

"Yup," he said.

Seifer grinned. "Great. Knock those pieces out, will you?"

More glass flew as he turned and beckoned to the others still waiting at the foot of the mound. When Zell had finished clearing the window, Seifer climbed inside.

Galbadia Garden's PA system was still working, the unfamiliar voice issuing from it ordering G-Army to the main court. Seifer listened as he waited for the others to arrive, but heard nothing he hadn't expected: G-Army was focusing on keeping SeeD out of Garden, not on offense.

When everyone was present, he turned to Irvine.

"My money says she's watching the battle," Irvine said immediately. "You saw how she just watched us in Deling. She won't fight unless she's forced to, but I bet she wants to know what's going on."

"Is there somewhere we can go to get a look at what's happening without getting involved?"

Irvine frowned, thinking. "We're really close to the second floor balcony. You can see everything in the main court there, but if anyone notices us, we could have trouble. And we might run right into Edea, too, if she's up here watching."

"That's the idea," said Seifer, drawing Hyperion. He strode to the door and grasped the handle. "Ready?"

"The elevator to the bridge is right outside the door," Irvine said, hefting his shotgun. "There might be people. Just go left and we'll be at the balcony in no time."

Seifer nodded. He turned the handle and flung himself through the door gunblade first. Two Galbadian soldiers stared at him in surprise from their posts outside the elevator. As he raced forward Fujin's jagged metal pinwheel whirred past his head and buried itself in the first soldier's face with a crunch. He fell, twitching and gurgling, to the floor.

The hyper-awareness that always descended on him during battle kicked in as he swung Hyperion; he was aware of the second soldier's hand drifting toward his pocket and the frightened look on his face. The gunblade hacked into the junction of the soldier's neck and shoulder. Seifer pulled the trigger.

The soldier staggered and fell to his knees. Blood fountained up out of the wound and as he fell forward onto his face Seifer gave the hilt a practiced twist and Hyperion came free, dark fluid trickling down the blade toward the hilt. He flicked the gunblade toward the ground sharply and blood spattered thickly across the smooth floor.

Fujin crouched at the side of the soldier she had killed. She pressed one hand to the soldier's forehead and yanked at her pinwheel with the other. The weapon tore free with a wet, tearing sound, but Fujin's face was as impassive as ever.

The encounter had cost them only seconds, and while Seifer and Fujin had been occupied with the soldiers, the others had skirted them and darted down the corridor toward the balcony.

Seifer and Fujin dashed after them. Halfway down the hall they passed an unconscious Galbadian soldier slumped on the floor, a victim of Selphie's nunchaku, and he could see the others ahead of him at the end of the hall.

They had pressed themselves against either side of the hallway, waiting for him. On one side Selphie and Irvine stood, faces pointed toward the battle, and on the other Zell also watched what was happening below. Only Rinoa's face, a pale oval framed by her dark hair, was turned toward him.

As he closed the space between them the din of battle grew deafening. The clash of weaponry and the angry calls of the Guardian Forces were punctuated with screams from the wounded, shouts of rage and triumph and amplified orders from both sides.

He skidded to a stop at the end of the hallway, ready to give the signal to move out, but was distracted by the serpentine head that reared up in the center of the court on a long, curving neck. The Guardian Force hissed angrily at something on ground level and the head darted forward with the speed of a striking snake, water sluicing down its shining skin.

"Slip out along the wall," he shouted over the clamor.

He followed them out onto the balcony and scanned the court below.

SeeD had pushed its way nearly halfway across the court in the first few minutes of battle, but now Galbadian soldiers were pouring into the court in force and the line of conflict was jagged, surging back and forth over the sigil marked into the very center of the floor.

Guardian Forces were everywhere, emitting weird light and causing considerable confusion among the better-numbered Galbadians. Seifer watched a huge three-headed dog fly into the center of G-Army's line, ripping with its teeth and knocking soldiers aside with its thick tail. Nearby soldiers managed to push it back, and then it turned and loped toward the line of SeeDs, tail lashing furiously. It roared and sprang, and then the hissing serpent GF struck, wrapping wet coils around it and sending them both tumbling and skidding into a group of startled SeeDs.

Rinoa elbowed him hard in the ribs, and he looked at her in surprise. She didn't try to talk over the racket, but pointed, and he followed her gaze across the court to the other side of the balcony.

Squall Leonhart stood there, leaning against the wall with folded arms, watching the battle below dispassionately.

Seifer wasted no time; he tore off along the balcony, heedless now of attack from below, neither knowing nor caring whether the others followed behind him. He kept his eyes fixed on Squall, and when he had covered half the distance between them Squall's gaze moved upward and landed on Seifer.

Squall watched him for a moment, apparently unconcerned that he was bearing down on him like a speeding train. Finally he pushed himself away from the wall and drew his gunblade, eyes still on his face.

Then he turned and walked unhurriedly through the double doors behind him, propping his gunblade on his shoulder as he went.

Rage surged through Seifer as he sprinted toward the doors. Squall was a one-trick pony, always trying to infuriate with simple indifference. The fact that it always worked was not lost on Seifer, but it only made him angrier.

His hand closed on the handle of one of the doors and he barely avoided slamming into the other from the momentum of his mad sprint. He tugged on the handle and threw himself into the room, Hyperion at the ready.

The room was the bottom level of a large circular auditorium. Ten feet above him, tiered seats looked down upon a raised dais and podium, but the floor around and in front of him was empty except for Squall. He stood in front of the dais waiting for him, gunblade loose in one hand and eyes fixed on Seifer's face.

Seifer's gaze traveled upward as he registered movement above him, just in time to see Edea stand from her seat behind the podium, her elaborate headdress chiming softly. Her golden eyes were upon him, and as he watched she smiled at him, a cruel smile that made anger flare inside him.

"You're the legendary SeeD destined to face me?"

"Shut up, witch," he told her. He paced closer, his eyes on Squall, who watched him with narrowed eyes and brought his second hand around to grip the hilt of his gunblade.

"I must say I thought there would be more of you," the sorceress said, her voice brimming with amusement.

"There are," he said, watching Squall pull his gunblade up into a guard position. "There's a whole Gardenful right outside."

The doors slammed open behind him. "Matron," he heard Irvine say, and he glanced up to see her grinning even more widely.

"Yes," Edea said.

Her agreement seemed to incense Irvine. "No!" he shouted, and he rushed forward into Seifer's line of vision, his hand full of fire, and threw it at her. Edea laughed and deflected the spell with a wave of her hand. It hit the smooth wall of the auditorium, singeing the white finish.

"Take her!" Seifer shouted.

A flicker of movement warned him just in time. He ducked instinctively; the gunblade sliced over his head and he whirled in his crouch and slashed at Squall's legs.

Squall's legs weren't there. Seifer jerked his free elbow back as hard as he could, grinning in satisfaction when it connected solidly with solid flesh. There was a grunt and he twisted in place, raising Hyperion to block the overhand blow he knew was coming.

The gunblades crashed together, blades scraping to a halt near the hilts and raising sparks. Seifer gritted his teeth and pushed as hard as he could, rising inexorably out of his crouch. Cords stood out on Squall's neck as he strove to prevent it, but Seifer was stronger. He pressed his advantage and forced Squall to take a step back.

"Thought you didn't fight dirty," Seifer said.

A shower of sparks fell over them from the spells shooting through the air above, glowing red and blue and frost-white. Squall stopped trying to push him back and whirled away from him.

Seifer pointed his blade straight at his opponent's chest and beckoned with his free hand. "Come on."

Squall did not oblige; he stepped to the side, gunblade raised and eyes calculating. Seifer moved warily in response, and they circled slowly, each waiting for the other to move first.

When he was facing the podium again, Seifer grew tired of waiting. He dropped the tip of his gunblade and lunged forward, bringing the tip in an upsweep that would rake the other from crotch to throat.

Squall darted back as Seifer had guessed and tried to sweep Hyperion aside. Seifer batted the other gunblade out of the way easily and Hyperion whirled and bit into Squall's upper arm.

Something stung his wrist. Seifer gritted his teeth against the sharp pain and brought Hyperion around again, smashing the flat of the blade into the side of Squall's head.

The other man staggered, blood trickling down from his hair and staining the white shirt he wore under his coat. He dropped to one knee, shoulders heaving, and propped himself up with his gunblade.

Taken aback by this show of weakness, Seifer paused, sure it was trickery. But Squall looked up at him and he saw that he was only half-conscious. His face was white and the skin under his eyes looked almost translucent. He was exhausted.

Their fight had lasted less than a minute, nothing strenuous enough to account for the gray tinge to his face, and Seifer realized he must have been very tired before they'd even started fighting.

He stared down at Squall, frustration rising in him. He'd wanted so badly to fight him on even terms. What kind of a victory was this, when his opponent passed out from exhaustion after the first few blows?

"Damn you," Seifer said furiously, and brought Hyperion around again. The flat of the gunblade hit Squall above the ear, knocking him sprawling to the ground. His gunblade clattered across the floor. Squall didn't rise, and Seifer turned away in disgust.

Edea snarled from the podium at the SeeDs arrayed across the room, gloved fingers flicking silver arrows toward them. She was unbelievably fast, blocking everything sent her way with ease. For every spell she blocked, she sent five more their way, and Seifer could see they were in trouble; Selphie sagged against the wall, and as he watched she was hit full in the face with a wedge of the sorceress's silver light.

She collapsed, and Seifer murmured a word that sent a jet of cool green light toward her. Selphie stumbled to her feet, looking confused, and Seifer turned toward the woman on the dais.

Edea was watching him, her eyes blazing furiously. "Enough play," she growled, and stabbed a finger toward Squall on the floor. A pool of purple-black liquid welled up around him, thick and reflective, and as he watched Squall sank down into it. Then both Squall and the pool were gone and the sorceress became very still, still staring at Seifer, her eyes half-lidded and glowing softly.

The spells she was no longer bothering to deflect fizzled a foot from her, though one gauzy portion of her headdress caught fire and smoldered. She raised her arms in the air and with a chill Seifer saw that ice shards were growing above her splayed hands.

"Not this time," he said, and called Ifrit.

The whole room caught fire, flames licking up the walls and curling across the distant ceiling. Then the world went a fuzzy red, and the next thing he knew Edea was standing at the foot of the dais, arms raised, her headdress a blazing inferno, flames running up her dress from the hem to the tips of her fingers. She burned like a torch, and she was smiling.

He reached for the one really strong spell he had, but before he could do more than think about casting it, Rinoa threw her hand out and a glowing white ball of magic erupted out of the air and hurtled at the sorceress.

The holy spell quenched the flames, but the sorceress screamed and fell to her knees, clutching at her head. Her weird cry hurt his head, a shrill shriek that seemed to have no ending, and he winced as it went on and on.

The spell exploded, coating everything with misty white, and the next thing he knew he was on his back on the floor. He fumbled for Hyperion and staggered to his feet, feeling groggy and confused. The others were picking themselves up too, and he looked for Edea.

She was curled on her side at the foot of the dais, white smoke pouring into the air from her body, and he moved toward her unsteadily. When he reached her he bent and seized her wrist in a grip shaking from aftershock. She felt hot, but he noticed uneasily that she didn't seem to be burned. He pulled on her wrist and she rolled onto her back bonelessly, her entire body limp.

Seifer wondered if she was dead and was reaching for a pulse when her eyes opened. His grip on her wrist immediately tightened, the shakiness from being knocked out forced away by this new shock, and she looked up at him with wide blue eyes.

"Seifer," she said softly.

He let go of her wrist, but she reached out and took his hand. Irvine joined them, kneeling on Edea's other side, looking anxious. Edea turned her head and smiled at him. "Irvine," she murmured, and then, "Selphie… Zell," as the others approached.

She turned her gaze back to Seifer, eyes widening. She struggled to sit up, and Irvine slung an arm around her shoulders. "Where's Ellone?" she demanded.

Seifer looked up and met Irvine's worried gaze.

"Did I protect Ellone?" she pleaded. "Tell me I protected her…"

"You did," Irvine reassured her. Edea slumped in his arms, her eyelids fluttering shut as she lost consciousness.

"What was that all about?" said Zell.

"I don't know, but we're getting the hell out of here right now," Seifer said. He nodded to Irvine, who stood, picking up Edea's limp form as he did so. Seifer reached for his comm and pressed the button that would reach the bridge.

"Cid, tell Xu to withdraw now." He paused, trying to figure out what to tell him. His voice sounded tired even to his own ears. "We've got Edea. She's alive, and we're getting out of here, but we can't bring her into B-Garden and I think… you should give your comm to Raijin and come meet us."

+++++

Afterward, Rinoa could remember very little of their flight from Galbadia Garden. There was a flash of Seifer, holding the comm to his mouth and shouting for Raijin to take off as soon as SeeD retreated into B-Garden, another of Edea's head bouncing on Irvine's shoulder as he ran down a hallway, and that was all. The blood she found on her sword later and the shallow cut down her forearm told her that they had run into at least one knot of Galbadian soldiers on their way out, but she remembered nothing of the fighting. Exhaustion, panic and possibly Shiva had taken those memories.

She didn't mind.

Her brain only started working properly again during their dash across the yellow-gray ground toward the orphanage by the sea. At some point she realized that her breath was burning in her chest and there was a stitch in her side. She lagged behind the others, watching them run easily and wondering just how much training it took to be able to run such a long distance so effortlessly. Even Irvine was far ahead of her, and he was carrying the burden of the sorceress.

The ground trembled, and she stumbled and nearly fell trying to look over her shoulder. She gave up and stopped, looking her fill and panting.

Galbadia Garden shuddered in its prison in the ground, and as she watched it shot into the air, lurching clumsily for balance. It swung around and headed west toward the sea.

As the dust cloud kicked up by Galbadia Garden's retreat cleared, she saw that Balamb Garden was also moving, but it did not follow G-Garden. Instead it headed east, into the heart of Centra.

A black and yellow speck speeded toward her from where B-Garden had been, and she shaded her eyes against the orange sunlight and realized it was a vehicle.

"Cid's coming!" she screamed over her shoulder at the others, but they were close to the orphanage now and didn't hear her.

Rinoa turned back to the approaching car. She jumped up and down and waved her arms in the air, hoping like mad that Cid would stop and pick her up.

He did, screeching to a halt and spraying her with grit. She coughed weakly as she climbed in, and he took off before she even shut the door.

"Is everyone okay?" he asked her quickly, eyes fixed on the stone house ahead.

"Yeah," she said, wiping her mouth on one of her wristbands. "We got out fine, no problems."

"What about Edea?" His voice cracked on his wife's name.

"We trashed her pretty good," Rinoa said fiercely. Cid's face went white and she knew at once that she had said the wrong thing. "But I think she's just knocked out."

"She seemed to know us at the end," she added. "She said their names before she passed out."

"I see," said Cid, and he pressed down a little harder on the accelerator.

Rinoa reached around and buckled her seatbelt discreetly. She had finally caught her breath, and the cut on her arm began to throb unpleasantly. Examining it, she saw with disgust that blood had trickled down and stained her left wristband.

Her cheeks and forehead were hot, but she wasn't sweating. She worried, wondering if she was getting sick, or if it was normal after a battle to feel feverish and jumpy. She remembered feeling almost chilly at first with Shiva junctioned, and hastily checked to see that the GF was still with her. She was, and Rinoa frowned. She definitely shouldn't feel so warm.

Then Cid turned the wheel sharply and the seatbelt pulled against her. She fumbled with the buckle as they came to a stop outside of the orphanage, and by the time she was free of the belt Cid was out of the car, leaving the keys in the ignition and the door wide open.

Rinoa chased after him, forcing her tired legs into action again, and caught up with him in the orphanage's narrow court. The white stone walls were still mostly standing, but some of the fluted columns supporting the stone overhangs were broken into pieces on the ground, and the ivy that had once climbed over them was brown and skeletal.

The others were waiting for them, and as she approached she saw Cid kneel and take Edea's prone form in his arms. Irvine, who had been cradling her head and shoulders off the flagstones, stood and backed away respectfully.

Cid looked down at the woman in his arms, love, hope and anguish written plainly across his face. He trailed his fingers down her cheek, and then leaned over her and began to tug gently at her blackened headdress. His hands were shaking and he fumbled with it for almost a minute before it came free, spilling Edea's long, dark hair down her back and over her shoulders.

Cid looked at the headdress in his hand. Then he threw it violently to the side. It bounced along a flagstone and chimed softly one last time before coming to rest.

"Edea," he said, touching her hair tenderly. "Edea, wake up."

He continued saying her name, touching her hair and her face, and finally, her eyes opened. Edea stared up at him in confusion, her eyes half-lidded, and then her expression cleared and she sat up and curled her arm around Cid's neck. He slid his hand into her hair and she kissed him fiercely.

Rinoa watched them, thinking what a strange picture they made. Cid was middle-aged, short, and slightly overweight, while Edea was the picture of young beauty. Then she remembered that Edea couldn't be as young as she looked, not if she'd raised Seifer and the others. She wondered if sorceresses aged.

"I didn't think you'd ever come back," Cid whispered. He kissed Edea's cheek, and then her mouth again.

"I wanted to," she said, clinging to him.

"When you didn't come back from Trabia--" he said, and started over. "I should have been there with you. It's my fault."

"No," Edea said. "She would have killed you." She pressed her forehead to his neck, and his hand smoothed her hair.

Seifer cleared his throat and they broke apart. Only then did they seem to realize that six people were watching them. Edea flushed delicately, and Cid scrambled to his feet and offered his hand to his wife.

"You were magnificent," she said to them as she rose to her feet. She smiled, and to Rinoa's surprise, the smile included her. Edea didn't let go of Cid's hand, but laced her fingers through his. They held hands like teenagers.

"I know," Seifer said, "but who would have killed Cid?"

"Sorceress Ultimecia," Edea said.

"What?" Seifer said. "I thought there's only supposed to be one sorceress at a time."

"That is true," she told him. "But this particular sorceress lives in the future. The distant future, many generations ahead of our time."

"But how could she kill Cid if she lives in the future?" said Selphie.

Edea made a graceful gesture with her free hand. "Through me. You see, for nearly three years she has been using my body as her own."

"She possessed you?" said Seifer sharply.

"Yes," said Edea, bowing her head. Her dark hair slipped over her shoulders. "She is a very powerful sorceress, full of rage and hatred. I couldn't stop her."

"But what did she want?" said Zell.

"She is after Ellone. She wants her power."

"If she can send her consciousness back in time to possess you, what does she need Ellone for?" said Seifer.

"Let me try to explain fully," Edea said. "You know that there is only supposed to be one sorceress at a time. When a sorceress dies, she passes on her powers to someone else. In fact, a sorceress cannot die in peace unless she does this. She will live in great pain for as long as it takes to get to a suitable heir. Now, do you know who Adel is?"

"She was a bad sorceress," said Zell darkly. "She ruled Esthar about twenty years ago."

"Yes. You lost your parents in the war she started. Most people think that I am her heir, but this is not so. I became a sorceress at the age of five, and Adel is still alive. Her powers are intact as far as I know. I believe Sorceress Ultimecia left me to try and possess Adel."

"So you and Adel are both sorceresses, and both alive. How is that possible?" Seifer said.

"I suspect that the sorceress two generations past split her powers when she died. She chose two heirs instead of one, I think. One was Adel. The other was the sorceress who gave me her powers." Edea shrugged delicately. "But I could be wrong."

"This is confusing," said Zell. "I still don't understand about Ellone."

"She has the ability to send people into the past. Sorceress Ultimecia can also do this, but I do not think she can reach as far as she wants to. She needs Ellone to boost her powers."

"To what end?" said Irvine.

"Time Compression," said Edea. "Unspeakable time magic. Her goal is to fuse the past, present and future together. Only she could survive in such a world."

"Wow, that doesn't sound good," said Selphie. "So how do we stop her? Just keep Ellone safe?"

"That is one solution," said Edea. "Ellone is in the hands of the White SeeD now. Protecting her is their only mission. But I think it would be better to prevent Sorceress Ultimecia from possessing sorceresses altogether. You fought me when she was within me. Just imagine how much more powerful she would be if she were to possess a sorceress like Adel, who is also full of anger and selfishness."

"But sorceresses can't die unless they pass on their powers, you said," Seifer mused. "So even if we killed Adel, someone else would become a sorceress in her place. Unless you took her powers," he said to Edea.

"I would be willing to accept her powers, yes. But you would still have one sorceress left."

"I thought there was a way to suppress a sorceress's powers," said Selphie suddenly.

"Odine!" said Rinoa. "I had that bracelet," she said. "I tried to put it on you in Deling City…"

"Did you?" Edea said, smiling. "I would be happy to wear one now, if it solves our problems. I think getting my powers under control should be the first step."

"So we need to find Odine, and then we can go after Adel," Seifer said. "Where does Odine live?"

"Doctor Odine lives in Esthar, I believe. And Adel is probably there as well, though I assume the Estharians have her powers neutralized somehow; we would know if they didn't. I will go visit Odine."

"We'll escort you," said Seifer immediately.

"Yes," said Edea. "That is best. You are ready to do whatever is necessary should Sorceress Ultimecia possess me again?" Beside her, Cid went pale.

"We are," said Seifer, reaching up to touch the handle of his gunblade. Edea nodded at him, smiling in perfect understanding.

+++++

"Shall I take your bags, sir?" Evans said.

Quistis colored slightly. Why on earth had she bought all those flowers? It had seemed a good idea at the time; she had been charmed by the quiet, rustic village, and had loved the flowers that were the mainstay of decoration there: flowers in vases, in wreaths on doors, in planters outside windows. Flowers were everywhere in Winhill, lending their scent to the already fresh air, perfuming the wooden houses with their sweet fragrance. There were no flowers in Galbadia Garden, and she'd thought she'd bring some back to sweeten her quarters.

She could smell them behind her now, their scent wafting through the open hatch of the skimmer, washing over Evans and exploring Galbadia Garden's docking bay. His expression betrayed no personal thoughts about her cargo beyond an interest in helping her get it all settled, and she was grateful that Squall had found himself such a diplomatic assistant.

"Thank you," she said, handing over her canvasack. "You'll need a forklift to get the rest though. I seem to have run wild in Winhill." She smiled ruefully.

"Sir, if you'd like to get cleaned up, I'll take care of these and inform Commander Leonhart of your arrival."

"Thank you," she said. "How is he?"

"He's fine, sir. Spent a little while in the infirmary, but nothing too serious."

"Good," she said, and returned his salute before heading toward her quarters.

It was late evening, and the halls were quiet. Her high heels clicked on the floor as she walked, and she felt a bit out of place in a dress.

Three days ago she had gotten a message that she should rendezvous with Galbadia Garden here, in Trabia waters, rather than at the orphanage as they had planned. She was disappointed and annoyed; she had wanted to see the orphanage, but SeeD was present in Centra, once again disrupting her life.

She let herself into her quarters and made a beeline to the bathroom. She showered and dried her hair, deciding it was late enough to warrant pajamas.

When she emerged from the bathroom, she saw that Evans had arranged the flowers around her suite. Vases stood on nearly all of the flat surfaces, lightening the mood of the formal rooms considerably. Quistis smiled.

She stretched, raising her hands high above her head, muscles warm and loose from the hot water.

The doors to the terrace were open, she saw, and she was moving to close them when Squall emerged from the darkness outside. She halted and smiled at him.

"You're back," he said, moving to meet her. "It's good to see you," he said, and kissed the corner of her mouth, his hands on her shoulders.

Goosebumps erupted down her arms, and she was glad the long sleeves of the pajamas hid them. "You too," she beamed up at him. "You look tired, though."

Squall smiled faintly. "I've had a concussion," he said, raising his hand and touching his hair just above the ear. "Not supposed to sleep."

"For three days?" she said, aghast.

He shrugged. "How was Winhill?"

"We hit paydirt. She's not there, but she definitely used to be. I got a lot of information."

"Such as?"

"She was born there. I actually went in her old house. Her parents were killed when she was little, and a woman named Raine took care of her. She ran the bar next door. What I found out is that Esthar came to Winhill at some point and took Ellone. Raine's husband was Galbadian, and he went after her, but he never came back, and his wife died not long after he left. You won't believe this: his name was Laguna Loire."

Squall's eyebrows lifted. "Laguna Loire. That's interesting."

"I know."

"And Esthar wanted Ellone. That's interesting too."

"The villagers think Adel was looking for a successor," she said. "Not only that, but there's still some kind of benefactor who makes monetary donations to the town regularly. You should see the hotel I stayed at. There's hardly anyone living there, and I can't think a lot of people visit, but there's definitely money coming in."

"I wonder," he said.

"My guess is the Esthar government. Some kind of payment for the old government's treatment of Ellone, maybe. But what I don't understand is how she ended up at the orphanage in Centra if she was under Esthar's control."

"I don't know." Squall shrugged. "I'll send someone to Esthar, see if we can't find out."

"You aren't sending me?" she said, surprised.

"No," he said. "Ellone can wait."

Quistis didn't ask him what she would be doing. Instead she looked at him, watched the fall of shadow under his lower lip and the way the lamplight gleamed in his hair. She supposed it was common knowledge that G-Army's Commander slept in her bed, but they didn't know that the rumors were much more exciting than the reality of it.

For one thing, she hadn't actually spent much time at Galbadia Garden at all. She'd visited Balamb, Fisherman's Horizon, and now Winhill, each of which had required days of transport. She had spent perhaps five nights in G-Garden over the last two weeks.

Even when she had been making use of her quarters, Squall had been a scarce commodity. They had eaten meals together, and talked about the results of her excursions, but he attended the sorceress almost constantly, and if she woke in the night with Squall's silent, warm presence next to her, it had amounted to nothing. She never heard him enter or leave her quarters, and the first time she had stirred in the night with his breath blowing gently into her neck and his bare arm curled around her, she had thought she was dreaming.

Quistis thought about how easy it would be to just take those few steps and kiss him the way he had kissed her two weeks ago. She wanted more than the brief kiss she had just received. She wanted everything; she wanted him.

But there were dark circles under his eyes, and she knew he was tired. There would be plenty of time for other things if he really wasn't sending her out again, and Edea was gone.

"So what are we doing in Trabia?" she said, instead of moving into his arms.

"Speaking of Esthar..." he said lightly. "Come outside, I'll show you."

He turned and walked outside onto the balcony. She followed, looking up as she stepped through the open doors. There was no moon and the sky was deepest black, studded with pinpricks of light; she had never seen the stars so clearly. A chill wind blew through her pajamas and tugged at her loose hair; she shivered and crossed her arms. It was a cold, beautiful night.

Squall leaned his elbows on the balustrade and looked down into the water below. She joined him, scanning the dark waters for whatever he was seeing, but she didn't know what to look for.

"I don't see anything," she said. Her teeth chattered and she hugged herself.

"It's probably too bright," he said. "Wait here."

Squall straightened and returned to the warmth and light of her quarters. She shivered and rubbed her hands along her arms, trying to stay warm. Behind her the light faded, leaving her in darkness.

"Are you cold?"

"A little," she said, willing her teeth not to clack together as she spoke.

Squall stepped up behind her and put his arms around her. Something warm and soft moved against her knuckles, and it took a moment for her to realize that he had wrapped the blanket from the bed around them.

His cheek rested against her hair. His mouth was very close to her ear. "Better?" he said.

"Yes."

"It's in the water down there. You'll be able to see it when your eyes adjust."

Quistis unfocused her eyes and gazed down at the waves below. She was growing warm again with Squall pressed against her back, his hands holding the blanket shut at her shoulders. Cold air still seeped under the loose edges of the blanket, chilling her calves, but she didn't care.

At last she saw it, there in the water. A faint green glow emanated from the depths of the sea below, shifting with the waves, pulsing brighter and fainter like a sinister green heartbeat.

"What is it?" she said.

"The Lunatic Pandora," he said. "Esthar sunk it here years ago. We're going to salvage it."

"But what does it do?"

There was a long silence, and when Squall spoke his voice was resigned. "It calls monsters. From the moon."

Quistis frowned. "A Lunar Cry?"

"We have to neutralize Esthar," he whispered in her ear. "It's the best way. A direct assault would cost too many lives, and without Edea I don't even know if we'd succeed. But if we drop a hundred thousand monsters on them they won't have the energy to harass us."

She thought of the devastation in Centra. Esthar was alive and full of people, many more people than had once lived in Centra.

"Are you sure it's the right thing to do?" she said.

"Esthar hasn't responded to our overtures. We can't take the chance; I won't let Galbadians die in a war I can prevent. Esthar will hunt monsters instead." His voice was firm.

"I wish there was another way."

"So do I." He rearranged his hold on the blanket and pushed her hair out of his mouth, sliding a long piece of it through his fingers.

They stood together, watching Lunatic Pandora's green glow, Squall still twining her hair around his fingers idly.

"How long will it take?" she said after a while, relaxing against him.

"A week, maybe. I don't know." He didn't sound very interested in the subject, and she reluctantly started to suggest they go inside, but his fingers trailed along her neck then, smoothing her hair away and exposing her skin to the cold air. The words caught in her throat.

Squall bent his head and his lips brushed the bare skin of her neck. Slowly, she slipped her hand out of the blanket. His fingers wrapped around hers, and his mouth moved along her neck.

Warmth shot through her and her breath hissed softly between her teeth. He released her fingers and she turned in his arms to kiss him.

His mouth was gentle and cool, and she leaned against him, sliding her hands inside his jacket, touching the lean muscles of his back. One of his hands buried itself in her hair; the other was at her waist. He pulled her closer to him, his kiss becoming urgent, making her dizzy.

The blanket slipped to the balcony floor. Quistis hardly noticed. Her heart beat as quickly and lightly as a bird's. The wind stilled and the scent of Winhill flowers drifted over them as Squall stepped backward, pulling her with him, gently, inexorably, toward the bedroom.



Author's note: I'd like to take the opportunity to thank DK for beta-reading this chapter. He pointed out some things that are now much better because of it. You probably know who DK is, but if you don't go straight to my favorite authors list and check his fics out. He's a far better writer than I am, and he has two new fics out that you should read immediately. 'Devotion' is the most chilling depiction of Squall/Rinoa I have ever come across, and 'Story' is probably the most moving FFVIII piece... /ever/. If you read, review, because he hasn't been getting the attention he deserves.