Kayden and Ryu had been left waiting on their ship after they had arrived. Moments after exiting the cave, the team surrounding them had tightened their stances in wait as both their eyes began to readjust to the piercing light that was the sun. After a few minutes, they had been led to a waiting ship and sitting there was their seemingly calm Instructor. Kayden did not have enough emotional energy to speak to the man, but had offered him a quick SeeD salute before sitting down and trying not to think about what he had lost.

Precious moments passed in silence before the dark-blonde haired boy could not take sitting still anymore and he stirred up. Ryu began pacing; walking back and forth trying to calm his nervous energy. Kayden had stayed sitting, trying not to let any emotion leak through his defences. There had been moments of panic; the fear of losing someone he cared more for than he what he could put into words had shaken him up pretty badly. But now the relief was tangible; he knew that she was alright.

Ryu had stopped his grief-stricken pacing for their lost comrade and friend, and was now indulging in relieved pacing that Kaidia was alright and had, somehow, eluded capture from the forces of enemy that had found them within the caves.

Instructor Bane had left once more and returned with an openly relieved look on his usually neutral face, announcing that Cadet Dos Santos was safe and was being escorted out by their own forces. He had also, in that moment, given out that the sample was already en-route towards Galbadia Garden, under heavy guard.

Kayden had sat back relieved at that sentence, and waited for the moment that she would be led to this ship as well. It was then that his thoughts had begun to wander. If Garden was protecting the sample under heavy guard, then he assumed that the sample Ryu had handed forth had not only been the only one delivered, but that up until its accidental discovery by his disbanded Squad, its existence had not been known. It had killed their leader, but at least an antidote could be found in case it was used on a civilian target. Garden had been watching and had sent people in to help, and as a result some of his faith in the system had been restored. 'But what's going to happen now?'

Kayden had felt like the SeeD exam was a beginning, but it turned out to be an end as well. All three had their hands tied to Suzu's death, but Kaidia the most. She had cast the spell that had ended his suffering, but had placed herself in danger to do so. There was so much to think about over the course of the time they had spent in the caves. He had killed his first human, and had seen one of his team mate's die under the worst circumstances. Kayden was pretty sure that even his mother, with her powerful intelligence and even more powerful Blue Mage skills, would not have been able to do anything to save the boy. 'My mother… oh Hyne, she's gonna kill me and everyone one behind this when she hears about it!'

Then there was the mission itself. The objective had been too much to expect from cadets, and yet, without any objection from the more sensitive faulty, they all had been thrown into that much danger with almost no warning. If there had been any objections, they had probably been outvoted by the followers of Verauan.

He blinked and a group of SeeDs entered, following with them was Kaidia. Her dark hair fell forward, out of the ribbon she had used to tie it up for this mission and brushed across her face hiding her grey eyes from view. She looked tired, and before Kayden could stop himself, he had rushed to the girl, pushed Ryu out of the way and had hugged her. In that moment, nothing else mattered. It was as if everything else had died and dimmed away in his mind, leaving her as the only important thing he could see with his eyes. She was safe, and nothing else mattered; not the exam, not Suzu, not the Headmaster nor the Commander, not even the stupid repercussions that they were surely to face due to uncontrolled circumstance.

The girl relaxed in his arms and then tensed once more as Ryu attached himself to her. The SeeDs left without a word and their Instructors' gaze locked with his. He barely felt the ship lift into the air, as it began to travel back towards Garden.

"I didn't want this." Was all he said.

Kayden understood instantly. He had been one of the instructors that had argued against this mission; clearly thinking it too dangerous to involve the cadets. Yet, now his group stood and remembered the one that had fallen this day. 'Verauan better lose his job for this one…' He mentally promised himself. 'He's the one that decided this mission…'

He slowly tugged the tired girl with him and got her to sit next to him on the chair. Ryu followed after them, and all three sat near each other, drawing comfort from the only others that had borne witness to what had occurred. Bane sat down in front of the girl, sitting on the table ahead of them.

"Cadet?"

"Yes Sir?"

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Sir."

He gave her a disbelieving look. He had been their instructor for three years; guiding the entire class through the difficult transition from student to cadet.

"Just tired, Sir." She added on, eying him and his look. "And confused…" She trailed off there.

He nodded. "You all did well, faced with the circumstances you were in."

"Thank you Sir." All three echoed, at the same moment.

"What of the sample, Sir? Is it safe?"

Instructor Bane nodded to her question. "It is. It's being escorted to Garden under heavy surveillance. Lab technicians are already on standby for its delivery."

"Were we the only team that… was affected by this thing, Sir?"

"You were. No other Cadet or SeeD teams encountered it. The sample you brought out with you is Garden's only chance at studying the organism."

"And… what of the body? It could spread, by animals, Sir. Or mutate."

"SeeD teams have closed off the area where the body is… no monster can get to it."

"And… his parents, Sir?"

"Have been informed on what happened."

"What…?" She appeared not to be able to finish this question.

"Garden faculty have not determined a course of action in regards to the events."

"I see, Sir."

There was silence after that moment. Kaidia had apparently run out of questions, or had maybe run out of questions she wanted answered, and for good reason. Their Instructor wouldn't have all of the answers to their inquires, by law or otherwise. Kayden figured that his girlfriend probably had questions she was afraid to ask; namely what was going to happen to her after the Garden had decided its vote.

Kayden agreed with the decision she had made in that darkened cave when all other options had died, and he knew Ryu would back her up as well. However, even if they had been involved, their opinions wouldn't help them. Sure, they had been there with her and had been witness to the same horror, but in the eyes of Garden, they had not cast the fateful spell, but they didn't stop her either and thus they would be held accountable.

Kayden was certain that, if he had been only a moment ahead of where he had been, mentally running through every spell he knew of to see if there was any hope of Suzu's survival, he would have chosen to do the same. The deadly sleep spell had managed to tie his girlfriend up into the murky waters that went with the difficult charge of voluntary manslaughter, and if the Garden decided against her; if the parents wished it, she would be cast to the fickle fates of the courts to decide her sentence.

If the Garden voted for her decision, the parents could still press charges, but it was less likely they would win with the Garden backing the action of one of their cadets. It wasn't because the Gardens had any control over the governmental processes within the law, but because they would spare no expense to protect one of their own. With Garden funded lawyers, the video proof and eye witnesses, they could bargain for a lesser charge or possibly even get it dismissed. She already had two of those, but without the lawyers to support her case, there was a chance it would fail.

The best case scenario was if Garden supported her decision, and by some slim chance her parents chose not to press charges. Kayden was cynical enough to know that when there was a chance for grieving people to choose a scapegoat, it was likely the most vulnerable one would be chosen. In all honesty, it was what he expected them to do. What was worse than losing a son?

Kayden shook his head. What would it have done to his mother and father to learn that he had died on the SeeD exam? They would be grieving like Suzu's parents; lost and unsure of how to continue, being forced to bury their memories and hopes for him, as Suzu's parents had to do. His dad would be angry, and may go off and do something he would regret later in his grief, and his mother would pile herself deeper in work and try to keep the pain at bay. They wouldn't even have a body to bury. It was too dangerous to even think about removing the body from the cave, and his parents would have been burying an empty casket; imagining the dark hole their only child lay in for eternity, not even allowed to say goodbye.

He had seen that already once, as a young child. At eight years old, his favourite playmate had vanished in the tides of that passed over Balamb Beach and had never been seen again. Aurora had been assumed dead; having drowned by the furious waters. Kayden remembered standing with his parents; dressed in a little black suit, watching as the little girl's mother cried over the baby she had lost, while her father stood there with pain written in his face and tears burning in his eyes. Kayden had stood there, holding his mother's hand as they all had watched the empty casket of Aurora Leonhart be lowered into the ground and lay there empty forever. No body was ever recovered, and the little girl was just as lost to her parents as Suzu was to his. They would now be burying a child without the body, and would have to leave him behind as Squall and Rinoa had been forced to leave their only daughter in the past.

Dying was a risk of becoming a SeeD, but then again death was a risk of life, but SeeDs always played the odds; hoping for a good outcome, more than any other profession. They played with their lives; took their lives in their hands whenever they went out for a mission, and caused unknown amounts of stress for the parents, friends, lovers, or anyone else they left behind. Dying should not have been a risk to a child, yet there she was lost in the waves of the past.

He had seen their grief; watching over the years as he stayed in Balamb Garden. It had taken the couple years to recover, and his mother was quite sure that their Commander still felt the oppressive feelings of pain and guilt even to this day, twelve years after the girl died.

Death was a part of life, and at every moment a SeeD had to be ready to die. Kaidia had taken that literally, and had chosen to oversee the safety of the sample before her own. If she had not stayed back, they could not have outdistanced the troops, even if they had run. There was too many of them, and they all would have been overwhelmed. Whatever chance Garden had in studying this new parasite would have been lost.

Kaidia would make a good SeeD; he already knew that. Not only did she have excellent training with her Gunblade, as well as the distinction as being the only female Gunblade specialist, but she also had the intelligence and the know how behind it. She had learned what to do in situations like the one they had been in, and had moved to cover them when their leader could not. Kayden had noticed this fact when Suzu froze when killing his first human, and had not recovered as fast as himself or her. She had taken control of the group in such a way that it made him out to be the leader, having rephrased the order in the form of a question and maintaining the correct command of the group. She had placed them strategically having left the two more vulnerable fighters between two that could just barely handle the killing of humans. She had made sure that if there was an attack, then the ones that had been able to handle the stress were closer to the front of the attack instead of the two that had hesitated.

Kaidia would make a good SeeD and a good leader. As soon as she had accidentally established herself as the unofficial group leader after Suzu had panicked, Ryu had instinctively turned to her and used her to keep his own emotions in check. Kayden had observed that, during their desperate run to keep up with Suzu, Ryu would turn to look at her, as if checking to see if the situation was alright, before following their leader. Not that she could say anything directly on the pace he had set. If either had argued or even tried to slow the group down it may have been seen as insubordination and their marks would have been docked for not being able to follow orders.

'But with the outcome, I would have preferred to have my mark docked then have him die. None of us knew that would happen. We all knew with that pace, he had set no precautions for running into enemies, but none of us had expected that. As a result, he wound up dead.'

Suddenly, he realized something. He didn't know what had happened after he and Ryu had left her to the army; how she managed to escape. From the expression in her eyes, the odds had been bad. 'How did she get away then?'

He took a breath and turned to the girl sitting next to her. The trip had gone silent at some point that he did not know. He had drifted into thought, and the miles and minutes had vanished from his collective consciousness. Counting the time on the wall, he was surprised to discover it was 1638 hundred hours, and that their arrival at Garden was set at 1700.

"Kadi?"

She looked in his direction, turning her attention from her crossed arms. "Yeah?"

"How did you get away from the army?" he asked.

Beside her, Ryu had perked up and had turned to look in their general direction, apparently curious now that the question had been delivered.

"They cornered me, after I took some of them down with sleep and stop spells. I… confused one and set fire to him and he ran throughout his group. When they were distracted, I cast haste on myself and ran into a group of SeeDs." She answered his question coldly, but her eyes flickered when the answer came out.

Kayden nodded; knowing that, despite the tone of the answer, it was also on her mind.

"That was a good plan, Kaidia." Bane addressed from his solitary watch on the opposite couch. "If you were in that situation again, would you change anything?"

"That answer would depend on if I had stronger magic, Sir. At that moment, my best chance of escape was to create a diversion, Sir."

"Why?"

"Because I had to escape, Sir. I didn't see another way around the enemies."

"But would you do it again?"

"If I had to complete a mission, then yes, I would Sir. It doesn't mean I wouldn't determine if there was any other way first, Sir."

"Good." He nodded once more and seemed to drift away into thoughts, sitting there observing himself and two more of his pupils.

There was another long moment of silence as the minutes on the clock slowly ticked ahead, in a succession of precisely timed movements. From the window he was next to, Kayden could see the rapidly approaching golden white and red shell of the largest Garden in existence. With a wreath of gold surrounding it, held by streamers of floating red wires that were stronger than they looked, it was a magnificent view. A long time ago, Kayden had been told that the nearly invisible red streamers, attached to the golden wreath, were a part of an old flying machine that was used to move the original buildings that the Gardens were created in, out of the doomed country of Centra and to other locations due to a Lunar Cry. The Gardens were capable of flight, but because of habit, and long established traditions, all the Gardens stayed where they had been for the thirty five years of their existence; one on Balamb, one in Trabia and the largest in Galbadia, all three having taken their identifying names from the countries that housed them.

At about 1655 hundred, their instructor looked up and turned to speak to them once more.

"When we land, you will be escorted to your dorms. You will have exactly thirty minutes to clean yourselves up and then to report to the elevator. After that, you will be debriefed on your own, by the headmaster. Is that clear?"

"Yes Sir." All three chorused.

There was silence as the ship landed gracefully, right in front of ethereal like Garden.