"So what all have you done to get yourselves into this much trouble?" Quistis inquired.
"Most likely, if you knew, you wouldn't want to help us," Carly quickly assumed.
"She's right. I'm a baaaaaaaaaad girl," Sam confirmed.
"I could never judge two girls as pretty as you for doing anything," Irvine commented, earning him a slap across the face from his girlfriend.
"If you don't want to tell us, that's fine, but you seem like trustworthy people, so it probably won't change anything," Selphie reassured them.
"Trustworthy? Hah. Well, it's a long story. I don't want to get into it now," Sam mumbled as she pulled out a perfectly sealed blueberry muffin from her pocket and began eating it.
"Do you always carry around muffins in your pocket?" Zell teased.
"Nah, sometimes I carry a chicken sandwich, other days rice krispy treats, on Mondays though, I usually have a can of chili... mmm... chili." Sam drifted into her own dream world full of all sorts of food ranging from potato salad and steaks to donuts and oatmeal pies.
"So, how long will it be until Freddy comes back?" Carly wondered out loud.
"Should be sometime this week. A few days, probably. Depends on how soon they can get in, but since Squall's dad is really good friends with this doctor, he can probably get in right away."
"And you're sure this doctor knows what he's doing?" she worried.
"He'll be fine," Quistis reassured her.
"I am so screwed when we get back home," Sam nervously laughed. "I've never done something so bad! I'm so nervous but it feels so good..."
"Sam? Snap out of it," Carly commanded.
"Whoo-hoo!" Selphie suddenly burst into joy as she lay eyes on a banner for the Volleyballoon tournament at Balamb Garden. "My nomination for the new official sport of Balamb Garden won!" she started to jump excitedly.
"Volleyballoon? What's that?" Sam was curious.
"Well, it's... let's play! That way I can explain better," Selphie answered.
Meanwhile, Squall and Rinoa have just arrived at Esthar Air Station with Freddie.
"Whoa!" Freddie said in amazement as he stepped outside of Esthar Airstation. "This place is so... high-tech!"
"Welcome to Esthar, Freddie," Rinoa cordially welcomed the boy.
"Esthar? I thought you said we were going to Timber," Freddy realized.
"I think your friend told Zell to keep it a secret. He gave us the signal to lie and play along with it. If you want to know why, call Zell or your friend," Squall answered.
"Probably had something to do with Sam giving away my whereabouts... I have to thank Carly for that," Freddy mumbled as three strange men and a girl greeted them.
"Squall! Good to see ya. So this must be Freddie?" one of the men assumed as the girl with them gave a hug to Squall, and then one to Rinoa.
"Yeah, I'm Freddie... who are you?" he awkwardly greeeted.
"Squall's dad. I'm Laguna, president of Esthar. Nice to meet you," he held out his hand, and Freddie shook it.
"Nice to meet you too, sir," Freddie replied.
"This is Ward and Ellone," a second man said while pointing to the others. "My name's Kiros. We're friends of Laguna's."
"Can we just get on with it? Freddie has an emergency that needs to be fixed immediately. We can chat later," Squall tried to hurry up the conversation.
"What? Oh, right. The Chip. I gotta warn you Freddie, Dr. Odine can be a little scary... and weird... and strange... but I assure you, he's a good doctor. Don't let him scare you. Hahaha," Laguna assured the boy as they walked forward.
. . . . .
"I hope we win," Carly told Sam as she slipped under the covers in Squall's dorm.
"Yeah, and get a year's supply of free steaks," Sam agreed, smiling at the thought of food.
"I wonder what the prize will really be," Carly said, yawning and drifting into sleep.
"I don't know, but whatever it is, it better be worth whacking around balloons all day."