"Moving Out, Moving On"
Only Balamb Garden remained. The other two Gardens still existed, but not in the same capacity. They'd been turned into universities to train kids from all over the world in a multitude of subjects, not one of them being mercenary work, or anything related to fighting or warfare at all. Of course, it would take time for them to really settle in; they were so new, and people were timid, sending in their kids slowly because what if they were still sending their kids to secretly become soldiers?
And though Balamb Garden was still up and running, it had been grounded to the island. Not to mention it had been reduced in size by nearly half, and they'd put a cap on how many SeeDs could be working at any given time. Squall and Quistis were staying on, but Irvine wasn't sure what he wanted to do yet. And Zell, well, he had been doing so little in way of SeeD work that he kind of just drifted out quietly and no one seemed to notice a difference. He was starting his own self-defense school in Balamb, close to Rinoa's animal shelter.
Then there was Selphie, still unsure how everything had ended up like this. But she had put her resignation in a year ago, to officially take effect once the situation with Sanctus had been resolved. The past year had been strange indeed: less war-like, and more global negotiations. There were no more bombings, but there had been some protests that had incited violence. Garden had tried its best in the negotiations with Esthar, Dollet, Galbadia, and Timber, but in the end, the public opinion overruled them.
And now Selphie had officially turned in her uniform. They'd given her a ceremony the night before, followed by a going-away party, but no one had really been very excited. The world was so different from the one they'd been born into, and also the one they'd fought in. Now there wasn't much fighting to do.
The end of Sanctus had seemed so far away when Selphie had given Quistis her official letter of resignation, but the year, so full of tension and excitement and suspense, had gone by rather quickly. Now there she was, 29 years old, a bag slung over her shoulder—the last of her belongings she'd really wanted to keep—standing at Garden's entrance, looking into the grand main room. Even if the world had changed, Garden itself still looked the same, and that was comforting. If she wanted to find solace in the good memories of the earlier days, she could always come back, and she would always be welcome.
Quistis had helped her search for post-Garden career options, but most of them had seemed like temporary gigs. In the end, she knew she'd eventually return to Esthar; there was plenty to do in that country, enough to fill a lifetime. Besides, she still owed them her continued thoughts and ideas for the space program, even if some of them now were a little outdated. But that was fine; she'd have new ideas in little time. Even if she tried to rest her mind, it would find a way to think about all the things, all the possibilities. It wasn't necessarily unrelaxing, but some of her friends chastised her for not allowing herself to just rest completely.
But before all that, she had an indefinitely-long pitstop that she'd been planning for months, among other things. And she also had someone who had promised to help her actually go through with all those plans.
He was waiting for her now, she suspected.
Better not keep the man waiting too long.
Selphie adjusted the bag onto her other shoulder; the marble chocobo statue Nida had made her was a lot heavier than it looked, weighing at least half the weight of the bag. As she slowly made her way out towards the entrance gates, she thought about him. He too had made promises to her, most of them to be fulfilled once he finally resigned from Garden as well. There were still some things he wanted to do, missions he wanted to run by himself instead of always coming in second or less. He'd do great at them, but still, a big part of Selphie worried about him. He seemed so fragile, even if he was as sturdy as the rest of them.
She thought about the time Seifer had first called Nida by his name. He honestly had looked about to cry, and it must have taken a lot of strength to keep those happy tears in.
The farther she walked away from Garden, the freer she felt, and she remembered that grey lump she used to have in her stomach. It had gone away completely months ago, and now its blue sister was just getting larger and larger with each step she took. One day it'd consume her and every part of her would be this glowing blue. That day sounded nice, and maybe she'd celebrate it with a party, even if no one knew what it meant except for three people.
Rinoa had found the concept interesting, likening it to something similar that she had felt during the war. Nida was just glad to know Selphie was doing okay. And Seifer, well, he didn't really have much to say about it, but he seemed to understand.
As the gates came into view in the distance, she squinted her eyes for any sign of her quarry, but it was still too far to see. She quickened her pace a little, until she was almost skipping—the bag wouldn't quite let her do something so rambunctious.
When she caught a flash of brown, she knew it was him. She waved an arm in the air and called out, "Seifer!"
He was leaning against one of the gates, arms folded, wearing his leather jacket, of course. At the sound of his name, he looked down from the sky and over his shoulder at her. Only when she got real close did he push away from the gate, give Garden a glance behind her, and then hold out a hand.
Selphie turned away a little. "I can carry it myself," she said indignantly.
"I know you can. I don't care. Hand it over," he said, wiggling his fingers in impatience.
With a wrinkle of her nose, she slung it over to him and he easily put it over his shoulder. He made it look like it weighed as much as a dry leaf.
"You're just trying to brag, aren't you? Trying to rub it in!" Selphie said.
"Is that what I'm doing?" he asked carelessly as he turned towards the car he'd rented from Balamb.
She followed him. "Yeah, yeah, I'm tiny, you're not. Big deal. It's not like no one's noticed."
He just smirked.
"Or," she said, suddenly thoughtful, "you're trying to impress me."
Seifer rolled his eyes and unlocked the doors. He opened a door and carefully set her bag inside.
"Which is stupid," Selphie continued, "and way too obvious to be impressive at all."
He shut the door with a little extra force and then turned to her. "Or maybe I'm just trying not to be an asshole."
Selphie put her hands behind her and smiled. "Well, you don't have to carry my bag for me to know that, dummy; I already know. You don't have to keep proving anything to me."
Seifer's eyes gazed at her intensely for a few more moments, then his expression softened. "I assume you want to open the door yourself, then?"
"That is slightly preferable, yes," she said, holding up her index finger and thumb to show just how "slightly." Then she skipped around to the other side of the car and got in the passenger side. When Seifer got in the driver's seat, Selphie leaned over the middle arm rest. "Any regrets yet?"
With a scoff, he just shut his door and started the engine.
Several minutes after they started driving, Balamb Garden growing smaller and smaller in the mirrors, Seifer asked, "Are you having any regrets?"
Selphie stared back at Garden's imposing structure and leaned her chin on her hand. "You know, I've had lots of time to think about it, but I'm sure I'm making the best choice, you know? Besides, I'm not the only one, and Garden's not going to be the same Garden anymore."
Again, it grew silent for about five more minutes. Then Selphie looked over at Seifer, noticed how intently he was watching the empty, straight road ahead. "Who knew I'd end up ditching Garden and moving in with you, huh? I swear I'm a good roomie."
He let an amused puff of air out of his nose.
"Now we just need to wait for Nida and the dream team will be back together again," she said.
"Selphie, the three of us only worked together for a week," Seifer said with a shake of his head.
Selphie frowned. "Yeah? So what? We stopped Balamb Garden from blowing up, right? That's dream team material right there. And then even if we weren't working, the three of us have spent a lot of time together. So, I think it's a perfectly acceptable term." She leaned her chin on her other hand, resting her elbow on the middle arm rest. "We'll find something to work on together. We have plenty of time for that."
"Only because you'll be looking for it," Seifer grumbled.
She punched his shoulder. "You bet I will be." She looked at his profile and smiled. "And you'll love it. We always gotta be doing something."
He said nothing, but his mouth curled up in a small smile.
"It'll be great," Selphie said, looking forward now, too. "I'm excited for it. More than I've been about most things this past decade. So thanks, partner."
"Don't call me that," Seifer complained.
"All right, partner," she said with a grin, pointing out. "Onward we go!"