Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy or it's characters...but I do own my characters!

A/n: Enjoy the story everyone and keep commenting it! I love you people!

Phase Three: Good-bye

The digital clock on his nightstand stuck 3:00pm, just like it did everyday. But today was different, for it was the day that closed a tremendous chapter in everyone's lives; the day Garden was going to shut down forever.

Zell Dincht shoved the last of his clothes into a giant gym bag and carried that bag over to the pile of them located next to the doorway of his single dorm room. As he turned around, his blue eyes caught the sight of his now empty space. His fists found their way to his hips; he exhaled heavily, "Looks like we have one hour left…"

"It will defiantly be hard to get going back to Balamb and live like a normal person, in a normal house with a normal family and a normal low paying job…I'm sure gonna miss Garden and all the SeeD's," the blonde thought sadly, twisting around and struggling with his heavy luggage. As he walked into the door frame, more despair came over him like a wave. He turned around one last time to see his dorm room again. With that a tear came into his eye, but was immediately blinked away. Soon the door slide closed for the last time behind him.

Irvine and Quistis were lingering around the main entrance of the Garden. It had settled down just a day ago in Balamb for its last trip. And now, all SeeD, Students, and facility were to go to the Balamb train station to depart.

Irvine sighed, leaning against a rail of a set of stairs, "So, what are you gonna do after this, Quistis?"

The blonde girl replied, "I have been accepted by the Esthar military to attend to some duties as a trainer for soldiers. How about you?"

The cowboy sighed again, "I think I'm gonna stop fightin' and become a journalist or a researcher…or somethin'?"

"Wow, I'm impressed," laughed Quistis, "From a cowboy to a journalist…"

The taller boy gave her a coy look, "How's that hard to believe? It's one of my passions in life."

"Besides women?" She added.

"You can get women by bein' intellectual!" Irvine insisted.

She laughed, "I'm sure that's how Laguna did it when he was a journalist. Remember Selphie's infatuation with him?"

The two laughed, which was somewhat surprising at a sad time like this.

That's when something popped into Irvine's mind, "Hey, do you think Squall is gonna come with us or move in with Laguna, y'know 'cause he's his ol' man and all?"

"I highly doubt that, Squall and Laguna don't meet eye to eye, remember? I don't think Squall wants to live under a name like 'the president's son'." Quistis said, finding it a little sad.

Irvine chuckled, "At least he'll be rich and don't have to pay his own bills. He'd be one lucky bastard!"

"True, very true!" exclaimed the blonde haired woman. Her laughter stopped, hearing a large thud against the ground, not too far away. Both of the teen's attention was then shot towards the sound.

Zell, who was panting like mad, dropped his bags on the cement. He had lugged five bags of stuff from the dorms that were located at the other end of Garden to where he was standing presently.

"Oh…my Hyne!" he shouted, catching his breath, "That was WAY too heavy, even for me!"

"Then maybe you shouldn't have carried so many bags all at once. You could' a killed your back, and who knows when you would fight again!" Irvine warned.

Zell ignored him and straightened himself up a little, pressing onto something else, "So, what were you talkin' 'bout?"

"Oh, just that if Squall was going to move in with Laguna or not. That's all," Quistis pointed out, with a little bit of amusement to the topic twinkling in her blue eyes.

"Psh!" Zell exclaimed, waving his right hand, and having a very bazaar look upon his face, "Like that would ever happen! Hell would freeze over first! Y'know how Squall feels about his ol' man."

"Yeah, that's what we were sayin'." Irvine nodded, glancing towards Quistis.

"Then where is he going to go?" the blonde girl asked both men.

The cowboy shrugged, but as for Zell his face beamed with a sudden idea. "I know! He can stay with me and Ma! We have a big enough house for three people to stay in. 'Know what? I'm gonna ask him now!" and with that, the over excited boy turned on his heel; about to run off.

"Do you even know where he is right 'bout now, Zell?" Irvine inquired, behind him.

"Uh…" he had no response, for he didn't even know himself. Zell scratched at his golden blonde hair, laughing agitatedly as he twisted around again.

"Don't worry, Zell, he's in his office right now. I saw him ten minutes ago, he should be still there," Quistis giggled. And soon the blonde boy was off again, leaving his bags with his friends as he went to submit a request to his now ex-commander.

Her keys typed at the keyboard once again, feeling tears swell up within her eyes. It was a painful day for all and an emotional one, too. It wasn't only that she was leaving Garden, but she was leaving all her friend's behind as well. And thus she wrote:

November 11th, 2006 (An hour in counting)

"It's hard to leave your friends behind while you go to a place that will change your life forever. I experienced it many times before. Even then, in that new place, you form bonds with those people, and sooner or later you might have to leave them for a long time. It's life, right? Life is about moving on…and we have to adapt to change. As for me, I will miss this place, but my friends here are worth more. Therefore, I want to say some things to them:

Zelly, you are really great, and a very respected friend of mine. I won't ever forget how you went to so many extremes to be the first in line for hotdogs in the café. That shows how devoted you are to something you really love; I highly respect that of you. I hope you the best of luck in the future because I know you will be great at something else. Possibly a martial arts teacher for kids! (Ha-ha…that's actually a cute sight to see.)

Quisty, you were the most mature of the group (next to Squall) you are one intelligent person and I always looked up to you. You gave me advice and helped me with my problems; so many times I can't even count. I can seriously call you one of my best friends of all time. You keep up your teaching! The military educational board knows crap about your teaching skills! So, I hope you the best of luck at that military training program!

Irvy, Irvy, Irvy! You are really something. Mr. Romantic or should I say, you pimp! You weren't exactly desperate 'cause you actually got women! I'm not afraid to admit I liked you once, but I guess I moved on…so STOP hitting on me! (Ha-ha) Well, I love you as a great friend and I hope your researching or journalism… or whatever you're doing turns out great! I will be reading the Timber Maniacs every month to see if your articles are there!

I wish I could say something to Rinoa, but I can't say much. Well, honestly, I thought you were an amazing person and very nice, but I…don't think that much of it anymore. I am so sorry, but I can't help being a little judgmental to what you did to Squall…for personal reasons. I wish I could say something good, yet I just can't…I'm sorry.

Squall, you were always so cold, but after a few nights ago I realized your not. There is a Squall that I kind of want to know now; a caring and sweet Squall that has never really surfaced (not in front of me anyway). I always supported you and gave you my friendship and now we mightnot see each other for Hyne knows how long. What I wanna say is something I can't say to your face, which makes me hurt deep inside considering the incident with Rinoa. Ever since we bumped into each other in the hallway when we first met…(SIGH) I always had a tiny crush on you…but I gave up when Rinoa came in. I thought I stopped, but just knowing we might not see each other for a while makes the feelings come back. I know it's wrong to admit this now…but I'm Sorry…

I just looked at the clock on my lap top, and there is less then thirty minutes left. I should wrap this up fast; so allow me to say one thing, Balamb Garden…you were one of the greatest experiences of my life…and now, I am to travel to Trabia to see my old friends again. From there…we'll it's up to them. I haven't thought it through yet, but I think Stacy will know. So, I leave you with my good-byes Balamb…Laterz!

I hope you guys liked my entries these past few months and I'm sad to say this is my last…goodbye! I love you all! THANK YOU BALAMB FOR EVERYTHING! I LOVE YOU!"

Selphie slide her laptop into her bag, soon zipping it up again. She had four bags in total. She put her laptop away in a bag, Selphie felt a tear drop land on her forearm. The back of her hand wiped it away swiftly, and a sniffle came. "I better get out of here…" she murmured, dragging her bags and not even looking back at her room.

All the brunette wanted to do was hastily get to the gates and leave, but something burdened his quickness. Under a few books, fell a white paper with writing on it. Squall unfolded it and read silently:

"To Squall,

I am glad to tell you that me and Seifer left. I hope that this will relieve all the stress in your life…me. I bet right now you are still confused why I cheated…well, I can honestly say I don't know… but. then I really thought about it and figured it out. You worked so much as commander, I barley got to see you, and since I spent so many months trying to open you up, I didn't have the heart to break up with you to your face…so I did the next thing that came to mind. I cheated on you with Seifer. Was I mad at you? Kind of…I admit it, but that wasn't really the reason I picked him. He was my first love and you never really forget them, right? Guess you won't forget me then, huh? Well, maybe you should; for the best anyway. So I wanted to say that I did love you…but I can't anymore. So, from me and Seifer,

Good-bye,"

His hand trembled a bit, holding the note, but soon found him self crumpling it up into a ball feeling the pain increase. He threw it into the trash and then saw Rinoa's picture on his desk, "How can you do this to me…?" he asked the picture in a disheartened whisper.

Soon he had thrown the picture into the garbage just like he did with the note. It was hard for him to throw the last of her memories away, but just like she had said in the note, he had to move on for his own good. Squall wasn't sure how long it was going to take to heal his broken heart, but he knew that it wasn't going to be easy at all.

Squall gathered his things from his desk, finding that it was the last of his stuff. He sighed, shoving them into a bag as he mindlessly grabbed items off the desk, his mind going onto more pressing matters, "I guess I should get going now…" he thought to himself.

"Yo, Squall," Zell's voice called from the doorway in it usual slang fashion. He was casually leaning against the door frame, making Squall look up, "Sup?"

"Nothing…how about you?" he muttered in reply.

"Cool, cool…" the blonde responded, getting off the door frame, crossing the room to the desk, "Heym I was wonderin', where are you gonna go after this?"

"I don't really know," came an honest answer while the lion finished off packing the last bag, "Why?"

"Then I guess I have come with a proposal," Zell smiled, "I was wonderin' if you wanted to live with me and Ma for awhile…just until we can get our own place, You know? She likes you, so you wouldn't be much of a burden on her."

Squall was actually speechless, his mouth literally wide open. This was one of those proposals where it was extremely difficult to turn down. Where was he to go without resorting to live with Laguna? So, he quickly accepted it, "Yeah. Fine, I'll go."

The blonde nearly jumped out of his skin in delight, yelling, "This is going to be sweet! Just me and you, two ex-SeeD's tryin' ta live a normal life! I'm just glad I wont be doin' it alone!"

"A normal life? Like what? If I'm not a SeeD then what AM I going to do? Work in a video store or something? Why do I feel that this isn't going to have any smooth sailing for here on out?" Squall questioned in his head, but frowned outside of it.

It felt like just a split second when Zell wrapped his arm around Squall's shoulders; almost hanging off of him because of the height difference of three inches. The commander, now a normal 17 year old, attempted to shrug him off, but even that was a failed endeavor.

Zell guided Squall, and his bags, to the doorway so that they could get on their way in departing. The door shut behind them instantaneously.

"Is everybody here?" Selphie asked the group only five minutes after Zell and Squall had arrived at the train station. Huffs of gray smoke filled the cloudy days air. People chattered and some sobbing was happening elsewhere. They weren't the only ones to leave that day.

Her, as well as all the other teens had frowns upon their faces, looking at one another desperately for someone to devise a plan for them to stay. Yet, time was just minutes away from being up, and they had to leave now to catch their trains.

"So…this is it, huh?" Zell murmured, miserably and peered around to all four of his comrades.

"Looks like it…"Quistis replied, not so enthusiastically.

Irvine sighed, "We're gonna to keep in touch, right?"

Selphie cut in quickly, looking at him as if he asked the dumbest question, "Of coarse we are! Right?!"

"Yeah! No shit!" Zell shouted, giving them a much determined look.

"I know I will." Quistis smiled, faintly.

Squall said nothing and all of them began to look at him skeptically, awaiting his answer. He looked back at them and sighed, "Fine…me, too."

"So, this is good-bye?" Selphie sobbed, and Quistis went to her side to embrace her.

"We will see each other from time to time, Selphie. It will be okay…" she chocked on some tears herself, reassuring the brown haired girl.

"I hope so…" she replied, escaping the blondes arms with her eyes fixated with Squall's as she spoke. Selphie then hugged Irvine, Zell, and finally…Squall.

"I'll miss you, Squall," she said as she hugged him. She found that it was odd for Squall to stiffly and hesitantly wrap his arms around her in response considering the fact that he hadn't acted like this a few nights prior. She also had to consider the fact that there were not any prying eyes on them when he was at a moment of vulnerability.

"I'll miss you, too…" he admitted in a whisper, so the rest couldn't hear him. The girl smiled as a tear streamed down her face, relieved.

Quistis looked to Squall after Selphie had stepped away to say her goodbyes some more. Her face solemn, blue eyes meeting blue eyes, she then said to her ex-student, "I'll be sure to let Laguna know how you are. He might be a little hurt that you aren't coming with me."

Squall glowered back, "Tell Ellone I said hello." Squall completely neglected to straightforwardly respond to her comment about his father.

"I will…" Quistis assured him quietly, "Good-bye, Squall." With that she said farwell to the blonde fighter next to him, walking towards away. One by one, Selphie, Irvine and Quistis had disappeared into the train awaiting their departure leaving Zell and Squall to watch.

The group began to pace onwards as they were going to do for many years to come. As tragic as these events were, they were a part of life…part of moving on.

Zell and Squall stayed in Balamb to live with Ma Dincht until they could afford their own place. Selphie went off to Trabia that day to meet up with her old friends, and start a new life. Irvine had taken a train to Timber to he meet with the editor of the 'Timber Maniacs' so he can become a journalist. While as for Quistis, she was to take a train to Fisherman's Horizon only to be picked up by one of Laguna's entourages. The group who had destroyed Ultimecia many months ago were now departing from one another and starting new lives….

That was the final day for the military unit of SeeD…..forever.

A/n: I really like this chapter! It was sad and I like reading sad stories! I like reading everything, dont get me wrong, but it makes great writting material! Hope you liked it as much as I did!