Sharon ran and skid along the glossy surface of the tiled hallway, almost ramming into the opposite wall full force. She pushed herself away from the wall and continued running just as a green-suited Paratrooper rammed his sword into the place where she just was.

Up until that point in time, Sharon was doing just fine, considering the circumstances. She wounded quite a few adversaries just enough so that they wouldn't be getting up anytime soon, even if they managed to get a high-level Cure spell. That's the good thing about bullets; they'll have to get em out their skin before they even think about healing themselves. But Sharon did get away without killing anyone, since she would never feel completely comfortable with herself if she killed something that was human.

Oh, how she wished the people hunting her down felt the same way.

Sharon risked a glance behind her and immediately wished she hadn't; now there were two new soldiers running after her head. It was terribly ironic for her to be running for her life in a video game, where lots of people back at college would have thought that she did a lot of that in her hometown of Detroit. Hell, I would rather walk down the east side of Detroit at three in the morning than be chased after like this. She didn't know how in the world she got separated from Irvine and Selphie so fast, but she did remember wanting to go and help Gina.

Tumbling into the first open doorway she saw, she scrambled to the switch and hit it so the metal of the door slid firmly shut behind her. Just to make sure, Sharon pulled out one of her handguns and shot the switch out. She breathed heavily and tried to keep herself from shaking.

But she quickly had another heart attack when someone touched her shoulder from behind. Spinning around and aiming her gun in the face of whomever decided to scare the shit out of her, she realized that it was Quistis.

"SHARON! Put that gun down before you kill someone!" Quistis ordered, and Sharon quickly complied, looking down as if her own mother was about to ground her for life. The professor crossed her arms and shook her head pitifully. "So, how do you propose we leave this classroom now that the door has been forced permanently shut?"

Oh yeah, didn't think about that. "Uh... well, you see what had happened was..."

"SHARII-CHAN!" Gina threw herself at her best friend, almost knocking the wind out of her. Gina just got done fending off an attack on the classroom with Quistis and Squall and was silently praying that Sharon was doing okay down in the quad. Zell had gone off in the opposite direction, rallying a group of junior officers through a surprise attack through the ceiling.

"How's your group doing?" Squall appeared, walking between a tight row of desks.

Sharon shrugged. "We're holding out, if nothing else. They just keep coming, though; if we don't cut off these bastards at the source, then we'll eventually be losing more SeeDs than we can afford for proper defense of this Garden."

Squall pursed his lips. Maybe I should have focused on attacking in the beginning instead of concentrating on our defense. "We need to regroup at the bridge."

"Good luck," Quistis nodded towards the sealed door.

Walking over, Squall performed an extraordinary feat of lock picking that involved ramming the sharp edge of his gunblade between where the lock should be and door, and prying the thing open with little effort. Gina's eyebrows shot way up on her head and mentally tried to figure out how the hell he did it so that his sword didn't bend like she was certain her's would if she tried it. Right on cue, Squall glanced over to Gina. "Adamantine plated." He brushed off the edge of his gunblade and walked off down the hall.

"That's not fair! Where was my adamantine coating when I needed it..." Gina pouted, thinking of the time where she tried to cut half of the group out of the wreck from the missile base. Sharon just grabbed her arm. "C'mon girl, no time to worry about that. We gotta book!"

Not a minute later, they found themselves in the circular confines of the bridge, and an excited Ravi galloped forwards and attached himself to Gina's leg. She bent down to give the moomba a big hug while Squall made a quick announcement for the rest of the group to get back up to the bridge, and pretty soon everyone was reunited, looking a little bit worse for wear.

"Dude! You know Seifer's in G-Garden, right?" Zell blurted out. Obviously Squall didn't previously know, even though he should have figured if the sorceress was there as well. That's just another thing I wish I didn't have to worry about. "Alright. We're going to have to attack them head on. They have too many experienced fighters that can wipe us out if we continue trying to fend them off. I'm just not sure how we're going to board their garden..."

"I can ram into them," Nida spoke up, looking over his shoulder at everyone. "It sounds crazy, but I've been getting ticked off watching them repeatedly bump us. If I can get a good angle in, then I'll wedge a ramp down on their turf and we can take the fight right to them."

"I'll take our little infiltration group directly into Galbadia while everyone's distracted with fighting on the outside," Irvine volunteered. "Don't worry. I know that place like the back of my hand."

"w00t! Mission Impossible time!" Sharon did a little salute before looking at her commander. "Now go and talk to your people."

"..."

"Yeah! Everyone looks up to you, Squall!" Selphie did her trademark hop on one foot. "You can't let em down!"

Dear Hyne, not this again... Turning around and gingerly picking up the microphone as if it were going to burn him to hold it any tighter, he began his speech. "... Everyone. This is Squall. How's everyone doing?"

"MY HEAD HURTS, DADDY!" Sharon shouted in a cutesy voice, just to have Gina elbow her in the stomach.

"...You're all probably too tired to even stand up after all of that fighting. But I want everyone to listen to me. We still have a chance to win, and I need your help. This is going to be our final battle. We're going to attack them before they come in again. To do that, we're going to ram head-on into their Garden, so prepare for a major collision. Take care of all of the junior classmen. Irvine, Quistis, Zell, Selphie, Regina, and Sharon will lead the attack into their Garden. As for everyone else, please support them if you can."

"But, Daddy, I DUN WANNA GO INTO THE BIG, BAD GARDEN!" Sharon shouted again, throwing a childish tantrum for added effect. Gina elbowed her harder in the stomach this time, and Selphie started to giggle.

"...SeeD was formed to fight the sorceress. Garden was created to train SeeDs. So this battle is Garden's destiny and also our destiny. It's a grueling battle, and I'm sure you guys are all exhausted. But I don't want to have any regrets. I don't want anyone to look back and regret this day. So just this once, I want you guys to give everything you've got! For yourselves... and for me!"

Quistis gave a little round of applause, and despite the pain in her stomach, Sharon did an Arsenio Hall fist pump, complete with whooping. Squall very much wanted to disappear into the floor, but instead he just replaced the microphone and nodded to Nida before getting his footing along with everyone else. The collision that followed was many times more forceful than the previous, but everyone regained their composure and hurried down the elevator to the 2nd floor deck.

Irvine listened to the hollow sound of their footsteps through the first maze of Galbadia Garden's sterile hallways. "Home sweet home," he muttered bitterly, looking around a corner to make sure it was indeed empty. "The sorceress should be here somewhere."

"Remember, she's our enemy now," Squall said. "If we start to remember the past and how it used to be, we won't be able to do what we came here to do. She chose to fight, and became our enemy. It's our destiny to fight back. We've come this far... and there's no turning back."

The orphanage gang held a brief moment of silence, perhaps reminiscing on the happier moments of their childhood. While they did this, Gina tugged on Sharon's arm and pulled her off a bit to the side. "Sharii-chan... you trust me, right?"

Sharon did not like the beginning of this conversation. "I did before you asked me that question."

"I have an idea. I can't explain it thoroughly right now, but when the time comes, don't stop me, okay?"

"Umm... I have a feeling I'm going to eat my words later, but... okay. I trust you, G-fuu. Just... don't do anything stupid. Okay?" Gina smiled and gave her best friend a big hug. By that time, the group had finished musing and were on their way down the hallways, and Sharon and Gina scuffled to catch up. With Irvine's infallible sense of direction through the many hallways that just seemed the same, they found themselves in the main circular lobby in the front of the Garden.

"Well, well, well... look what the cat dragged in," a familiar voice sounded from above. Everyone looked around for a moment before their gazes settled on a man in a tan trench coat and close cropped blonde hair leaning on the railing, greeting them as casually as a host would to his house.

"Oh, your mom!" Sharon growled, which got only a smirk and a wave from Seifer.

"You guys really shouldn't have. I was going to come visit you at my old home."

"Shut up." Squall tightened the grip on his gunblade.

"Is that any way to talk to a childhood friend?" Seifer shook his head and made a tsk-tsk sound. "I see now you guys have no respect for the past, now do you? Because if you did, you wouldn't be here to fight Matron. After all that she's done for us!"

"Oh, get off of it! You know we're gonna fight, no matter what you say!" Zell retorted. "So cut the halfassed mind-games, will ya!"

"You can't mess with our minds, Seifer," Squall stated, taking a step forward. "To us, you're just another enemy. Another monster."

"You're comparing me to THEM?" Seifer quickly became incensed, for he quickly straightened up. "I ain't no monster. I'm the sorceress' knight. I'm doing something for Matron, unlike the band of you idiots coming in here to kill her! You're the monsters."

"Would Rinoa agree with you if she were here?" Gina spoke up quietly, but loud enough so that Seifer could hear her. He wavered visibly for a moment, struck by the mention of Rinoa. But he quickly darkened and pointed the tip of his gunblade at Gina forebodingly.

"Oh, please. What do you know? What could an outsider ever know about what goes on here, let alone what's inside everyone else's head! This isn't even your battle, and you know it."

Gina swallowed and kept her gaze neutral and even, but it was still easy to see that Seifer's last comment struck a chord in her that she didn't want to come to terms with just yet. No matter how much she was willing it to stop, her chin started quivering ever so slightly, a sure sign that she was going to cry soon. But everyone jumped about a mile in the air when a warning shot sounded, and Seifer moved to the right and looked behind him to see a bullet hole in the wall right behind him.

"You... bitch. You mother fucking BITCH!" Sharon screamed, reloading her gun quickly. Her whole body was shaking and her face felt like it was on fire. Gina tried to get herself together to get Sharon to calm down, but she was already livid.

"Aww, what's the matter? Upset because I made your wussy friend cry?" Seifer mocked, quickly pushing any buttons that weren't already scathed on Sharon.

"... oh mother fucker..." Sharon took the bait and ran up the stairs three at a time, firing another shot that narrowly missed Seifer's shoulder. As he rushed into the auditorium doors, another one nicked the woodwork on the door that just swung closed.

"THAT'S RIGHT! RUN LIKE THE COWARD YOU ARE!" Sharon continued screaming, covering ground fast. "YOUR ASS IS MINE!"

The group still standing on the bottom floor exchanged quick glances. "Umm... she's in one of her rare, teetering on insanity anger spurts," Irvine said, heading for the stairs. "If we don't want to see too much blood, I suggest we get in there." Everyone climbed the stairs quickly and clambered to the auditorium.

Sharon stood near the stage, stock-still as if she hit an invisible wall that drained all of her previous energy and anger. She was staring up at the stage as if she were hypnotized, and as everyone gathered around her and looked too, they found out why.

Seifer was standing next to the podium on the stage, looking pretty haughty beside a swirl of green and blue mist that seemed to formulate from nowhere. From that mist appeared a figure in a long black dress, the low-cut collar lined with black feathers. Her headdress jingled with the few steps she took, her hazel eyes seeming to swirl with occasional clouds of green.

"So, the time has come. You are the legendary SeeD destined to face me?" Sorceress Edea's voice rang supernaturally throughout the auditorium, as if amplified by a microphone that wasn't there.

Squall's brow furrowed. Legendary? What is she talking about?

"I must say, I am impressed. An impressive nuisance. Your life ends here, SeeD."

"No." The group moved their gaze over to Gina, who took a few steps forward. "No one will die. Not SeeD. Not Edea."

The sorceress' eyes narrowed dangerously. "Worthless fool."

Gina just shook her head and made her way up the auditorium stairs. When her feet touched the top step, Seifer moved forward to intercept her. Gina readied a quick air spell that knocked Seifer off of his course and sent him toppling off of the stage. She sent a quick glance his way to make sure he didn't break anything (especially not his ankle), and walked so she was a few feet apart from the sorceress.

"No." She repeated, her voice and expression eerily calm considering the circumstances. "You are the fool, Ultimecia, if you think you can get away with what you have planned."

Ultimecia? What in the hell... Squall started to go up the steps, but was stopped by Sharon. "Wait... wait. Gina... she told me earlier not to interfere. She's got something up her sleeve."

It better not get her killed. Squall complied, but kept his gunblade ready to cut the sorceress down if she tried anything. Everyone else seemed caught up in the movie that was playing out on stage.

"You know nothing, child." Edea sneered, familiar swirls of power accumulating around her.

"Do I? I know a lot more than you give me credit for. Haven't you heard?" Gina took another step forward. "I'm psychic. And I know the future. I know your future. I know that you will fail."

Raising her hand, the sorceress formulated another large ice javelin and prepared to fling it directly at Gina. Letting out a terrified shriek, Sharon scrambled up the steps, vaguely aware that Squall had started moving the exact time she did. But before any blows were exchanged, Gina rushed forward and grabbed Edea's raised wrist.

A bright white flash filled the room, seemingly accompanied by an invisible wall of force that knocked everyone backwards and temporarily paralyzed everyone. They could see the ice javelin disperse in midair, and the sorceress dropped her wrist that Gina still had a hold on. As the light slowly started to fade, she moved her head slowly from side to side, as if she were moving underwater. Looking around her, her eyes widened when she saw Squall on the floor of the stage.

"Squall? Quistis? Selphie... Irvine... Zell..." a fond smile spread across her face, one that even Squall's mentally repressed mind recognized and embraced. "You've all grown so much, and become so strong... I have waited for this day to come. I feared that this day would come. Is today a joyous day? Or an odious day..." Her eyes suddenly showed a hint of fear. "Where is Ellone? Have I protected Ellone?!"

Everyone stirred and realized that they could once again move. Zell glanced where he thought Seifer fell, and was surprised to see that the young rebel was no longer there. It was as if during the time the flash happened, he had disappeared. He ran a hand over his spiky hair and let his gaze travel up to the stage... and sucked in a breath when he saw that Gina had collapsed.

Unfortunately, this did not go unnoticed by Sharon in the least. She was huddled over her best friend, shaking her and trying to keep herself from being a hysterical mess. Squall swallowed slowly and surveyed the scene. They got their Matron back... but at what price?