A/N 1: First of all, a bit thank you to everyone who has been kind enough to R&R. Knowing there are people out there who want to read my scribbles keeps me going.

A/N 2: I do not own Final Fantasy 8 - Square Enix do. All of the characters, creatures and locations are also theirs (except for Jewel the GF unicorn who has his origins in CS Lewis' The Last Battle). Any references to the characters' early lives is drawn from Lady Aliena's Monday's Child series - look it up, it's brilliant.

A/N 3: I've still got a couple of weeks before lectures restart, so I might be able to get another chapter out…

Chapter 10

Selphie jumped out of her seat. 'Where is she, then?' she asked, breathlessly.

For a moment, she thought Squall was not going to answer, but then he said, 'In the Centra Ruins, believe it or not. Can I borrow the Mini Ragnarok?'

'What in the world for?'

'To use as a kennel for Cerberus. What do you think I want it for?'

'But you can't just zoom straight over there! There are all those Tonberries shuffling around the place for a start.' Selphie shivered; Tonberries gave her the creeps. 'And well...'

'Fine! I'll get a Chocobo from the Chocobo Forest, then.'

He stood up and turned on his heel. Suddenly, the others began to move as if released from a Stop spell. Quists reached him first and got in front of him to bar his way.

'Squall, stop! Think this through. You can't go into the Centra Ruins alone...'

'So, come with me. I'll take you and Zell. Let's go!'

'You're not listening! We could all go and we still wouldn't be prepared enough. We have absolutely no idea what Rinoa is capable of... Squall, just listen! Without her Odine bangle and with an untried GF, who knows what her state of mind is? She managed to steal a Junctioned GF, for Hyne's sake! Do you really want to go alone to meet someone who can do that?'

'She won't hurt me...'

'How do you know that? She attacked Iris with no provocation...'

'I know because I'm her Knight! I'm the one person in the world she won't harm because she needs me in one piece.'

'OK, OK, you have a point, there. But what about the rest of us? What if she would harm us? Or if not us, the people of Balamb, or Windhill, or...'

'Alright! You've made your point!'

Quistis and Squall stood facing each other, both breathing as hard as if they had just defeated a T-Rexaur. Selphie found she was holding her breath and let it out slowly. Her stomach was flipping over and over; she hoped she would not actually be sick.

'Why don't I fix us all something to eat?' suggested Matron, breaking the tension. 'We still have a lot to discuss and it won't do to have people fainting on the way.' She smiled gently but nobody seemed to be in the mood to smile back. Irvine and Seifer offered to help and Zell went to check on Iris.

Cid took Squall's arm and guided him to a chair. 'Now, Squall, just take it easy for a bit,' he ordered. 'Edea's right; it's been a trying day so far, and it's a long way from being over.'

The younger man leaned his head against the back of the chair and squeezed his eyes closed. 'I just feel so... helpless,' he said, quietly.

'We all do,' answered Quistis, sitting on one arm of the chair and patting his shoulder affectionately. 'But I promise you that we'll find her and bring her back.'

'I'm scared of what she might do. You're right, you know? I have no idea what she's doing out there!'

'What is she thinking? What is she feeling?' asked Cid.

Squall looked as if he was about to snap at him but then he paused. 'Well, you were right about me knowing where she was,' he commented. 'Perhaps you're right, now.'

He fell silent and the others sat watching him. Selphie noticed a small frown appear between his eyebrows but then it was smoothed away. Suddenly, he opened his eyes and looked at them all.

'She wants me to go to her,' he said. 'That's all I know.'

Matron appeared at the door at that moment. 'There's soup and sandwiches in the dining room,' she said. 'The others are already there so you'd better hurry if you want anything!'

They all trooped out after her. In the dining room the individual tables placed together to make a single table, which was already fairly full. Zell had just helped Iris to a bowl of soup, while Seifer and Irvine were engaged in a cheerful argument about the relative merits of gunblades and rifles. The others found places to sit and tucked in.

Eventually, however, they could put the business off no longer. Matron cleared away the remains of the meal and when she returned with coffee and cakes, they all settled down to talk things through.

Quistis had found a pad of paper and pencil. 'OK, everyone, let's go over this from the beginning.'

'Before we start...' interrupted Squall, 'Iris, I'm sorry for the way I acted earlier. I was completely out of order.'

'There's no need,' Iris replied, 'but thank you. I appreciate it.'

Selphie noticed Quistis grip Seifer's arm quite tightly. The blonde man gave a knowing smirk, but did not pass comment. She gave him silent kudos points for taking the hint.

'Right,' the self-appointed Chair continued, brushing her hair back from her face, 'let's see what we know. And what we don't...

'Firstly, Rinoa has removed her Odine bangle, taken an untried GF by force and gone to the Centra Ruins. I think that, for the moment at least, we have to treat her actions as... unfriendly. Is that fair?'

She scanned the faces around the table and received a round of nods, some more reluctant than others. Squall hesitated the longest but at last even he indicated his acceptance before burying his face in his hands.

'Good; it's important that we're all in agreement, here. Now, we have no idea what Rinoa's motivations for these actions are. Is she acting under her own volition, or someone else's? What we do know is that Squall can feel her calling him to join her. Another question we don't have the answer to at the moment; is she calling him to help her out of a situation she doesn't want to be in?'

Squall lifted his head at this and gave her a grateful smile.

'Clearly, neither of these issues can be resolved by us simply discussing them around this table. We need Rinoa's input and we can only get that by going to the Ruins ourselves. However, it seems to me that there is some power there that is currently unknown to us. I suggest that that power was what attracted Matron to the Ruins many years ago and it has now attracted Rinoa. What do you all think?'

Again she surveyed their faces and received a round of nods in return.

'I think you're right,' said Matron, thoughtfully. 'Thinking back, I feel that I was answering a call, although who was calling me I don't know.'

The younger woman nodded. 'So, the next question is, who or what is in Centra Ruins calling to Sorceresses? It seems sensible to me to ask Odin and TK - Tonberry King - what they know.'

'And how exactly are we supposed to that?' Irvine asked, his unease clear in his voice.

'We've been working on developing a portable version of the containment field but it's still a prototype. And anyway, it would take too long to build a second one and bring both GFs here. The only alternative seems to be for all of us to go to Balamb.' She shrugged slightly.

There was a silence whilst everyone digested this suggestion. Finally, Selphie spoke what she thought everyone was feeling. 'Let's do it,' she said, simply.