"What. The. Fuck?" October snapped as they stepped into Garden and found it to be a mess of chaos. He grabbed a nearby cadet by the back of her uniform and demanded, "Explain yourself!"

The girl blinked at him, then shouted back, "You're with Cid, aren't you? All you SeeDs are!" and started struggling to get free.

October shook the girl and snapped, "You little–"

"October, let her go," Quistis soothed, gently prying her boyfriend's fingers out of the girl's uniform. "We're not killing cadets."

A member of the faculty appeared then, and called out a T-Rexaur to attack them, shouting, "Supporters of Cid must be dealt with!"

"Seifer, get the faculty member for me?" Squall requested as he casually summoned Diablos to take out the T-Rexaur. Behind him, the other SeeDs and the cadet were just sort of staring at the two Rank As and their lack of concern over a T-Rexaur being summoned on them by a member of the faculty.

"Not human," Irvine muttered, shaking his head.

Seifer grabbed the fleeing faculty and slammed him against the nearest wall, just close enough to Diablos and the T-Rexaur that they could feel the back-draft of his Dark Messenger attack. "That must have hurt," Seifer said conversationally to the man in his hold. "I don't suppose you'd like to have it cast on you?"

"We're not killing anyone in Garden," Squall intoned as he moved to stand at his lover's elbow, the others all following with mildly disturbed looks at where Diablos was sitting atop the dead T-Rexaur like a victorious king. October still had a loose grip on the uniform of the cadet he'd stopped, but the girl seemed to have changed her mind about standing against the seven SeeDs and was content to stay out of Squall and Seifer's direct line of sight, half-huddling behind the eldest of the SeeDs.

Seifer sighed a bit, then shrugged. "Ah well." He flashed an insane little smile at his prey and requested, "In as few words as you can – and with as little praising of NORG as possible – explain what the fuck is going on here."

The faculty member stared at the SeeD for a moment, then shouted, "I'll see your ranks lowered for this! Let go of me!"

Squall rubbed at his scar. "On second thought... Diablos?"

"I'll talk!" the faculty member shouted, starting to sweat as the demonic GF fluttered over to stand behind Squall. "We got word about the attack on the Sorceress and Garden Master NORG immediately said the only way to soothe her anger was to give her Cid and the SeeDs responsible. She already had the SeeDs, so we just had to send her Cid. But the SeeDs and students hid Cid and refused to let us near him. We just want to turn him over and soothe the Sorceress."

"See, that wasn't so hard," Seifer said pleasantly as he let the faculty member's robe go.

Squall waved Diablos away and his GF faded from sight. "You're all idiots," he informed the faculty before turning to the other SeeDs behind him. "Seifer, take Quis and October downstairs and inform NORG why he's an idiot."

"My pleasure," Seifer said with a touch of gleeful violence in his voice. "Do I get to kill him if he doesn't behave?"

Squall shrugged. "I don't care."

The faculty member let out an 'eep' from behind them, cowering back when Squall pinned him with a cold glare.

"What about the rest of us and the kid, ya know?" Raijin asked.

Squall sighed. "Rai, Fuu, Irvy, take the cadet and hunt down the others, then see about breaking these fights up. Use force if necessary, but try not to kill any of them."

"And yourself?" Irvine asked as Seifer led his team towards the lift.

Squall rolled his eyes. "I'll be going to see Cid."

"But he's in hiding!" the cadet called out from Raijin's elbow, having switched to the big teen when October left. When Squall turned icy grey-blue eyes on her, she squeaked and hid behind the large SeeD.

"Idiots," Squall muttered before spinning and stalking towards the lift.

As it had been for the Ghost, Cid was hiding in his office. His whole face lit up when he saw Squall and he sidled around his desk. "Oh, thank Hyne! Did you find those SeeDs?"

Squall pinned his quasi-uncle with an unimpressed stare. "No. We decided to go by Deling City instead when our boat's screen picked up an announcement about Matron becoming an ambassador to President Deling."

Cid paused. "Ah..." He shuffled back toward his desk chair and dropped into it, looking tired.

"And then, we found out about the assassination attempt and failure," Squall continued, moving forward to lean against the front of the desk and tower over the man. "Matron had every intention of sending missiles both here and toward Trabia Garden, did you know? Oh, but don't worry," he said as panic lid Cid's eyes, "Seifer and I took out the Missile Base before they could fire. And then we rescued October's party from D-District."

"Oh..." Cid breathed.

Squall pushed back from the front of the desk. "The others are dealing with NORG and the fighting downstairs, but that doesn't change the fact that we've got a violent Sorceress coming after us with an intense hatred for SeeD. Chances are high that she's got Galbadia Garden moving already and it's heading here, so I would suggest we move Balamb Garden as soon as possible."

"I don't know how," Cid admitted, though he pulled out the card to the lower levels. "I know about where the access panel is, but..."

"I am more than capable of figuring out some Centran technology," Squall interrupted, holding out his hand for the card, which was handed over. "Is Sis in Garden right now?"

"Elle? Yes, I believe so. Why?"

"We'll need her to face Ultimecia," Squall replied before stalking from the office.

"Ultimecia?" Cid repeated, confused, as the door fell shut behind the brunet SeeD.

Squall made his way down to B1, intending to check on Seifer's group first, especially since there was a chance of the lift breaking on the way down to the controls again, and Squall didn't want to leave them stranded. When he arrived, he found his lover and two friends hanging out at the bottom of the steps, cleaning off their weapons. "I take it NORG was as uncooperative as ever," he commented.

"No need to sound so surprised, Squally," Seifer replied as he sheathed Hyperion. "Did Cid give you the key card?"

"What key card?" October demanded as Squall nodded.

"This one," Squall replied, holding it up. "Garden was built out of one of the old Centran shelters, so it can fly, once we get the system up and running. Coming?"

"Garden can fly?" Quistis breathed as they all piled into the lift.

"All of the Gardens can," Seifer agreed. "Including Galbadia, which is what Ultimecia's making as her base. Being caught dead in the water – so to speak – while our lovely Sorceress bears down on us would not be fun, however, so let's get moving."

Squall had already run the card and they were on their way down. He wasn't surprised when the lift jerked to a sudden stop and immediately leaned down to pull up the hatch on the floor while October and Quistis frowned towards the controls. "Down here. Seifer, you first, then October and Quis. I'll bring up the rear."

With Seifer helping the others through the opening, they all managed to get into the passage before the lift even gave a warning shudder.

"That could have been bad," October commented tightly as they watched the box go sliding past the passage entrance.

"Hm," Squall replied agreeably as Seifer pulled the hatch open to the oil stratum.

"October, are you okay?" Seifer asked with a frown as Squall jumped down the hole. The older SeeD was clenching his hands and shaking slightly.

Quistis immediately turned to him. "October, hun?"

October shook his head. "I'll be fine," he promised before pressing past both of them and jumping down to join Squall.

Squall gave the older man a quick look-over, then turned to look down the tunnel, commenting, "Let me know if you need to rest."

October scowled. "I'm not–"

"Don't lie to me," Squall ordered quietly as the other two joined them, remembering how weak and shaky the Ghost had been after his own torture at D-District; ladders, in particular, were hard, though the threat of missiles had kept him going past his limits. They didn't have quite the same time limit here, so he was willing to wait if October needed a break. "Let me know when you need to rest. Come on." Then he started out again, leading the way through the tunnel.

October followed after the teen with a dark expression. Quistis watched her boyfriend with a worried frown, but didn't know what to say to him, what words would make his unusual weakness better.

Seifer was the one who commented, "He's not calling you weak, Pretty Boy, just telling you that he's aware that you're not in top shape. You losing your grip on a ladder and falling would be far more troublesome than us taking a break for five minutes or so."

October let out an irritated sound, but he admitted that Seifer had a point. And he knew that Squall was just looking out for him in his usual bland fashion, but it still stung that he could end up holding them up.

It wasn't the first time Squall had come down to the controls; during the year before he made SeeD, he'd found a small passage hidden out in the quad, behind some bushes, that let him down into the lowest levels of Garden. The passage was quite small, so he wasn't certain he'd be able to make it through now, but he'd managed fine as a kid and had travelled down here during those rare few times that Seifer wasn't at his side like a second shadow.

The passage had bypassed the large doors opened by valve, so they still had to struggle with that, but he'd been through the large room with the rusty ladder when he was younger and lighter and hit the button then. As a consequence, none of them had to climb up and chance falling. They did stop to take a break there, however, since Squall knew there were Oilboyles past another ladder, and October could use the break.

"You act like you've been down here before," October said as they relaxed next to the open gate.

"I have," Squall agreed. "I found a passage down here as a cadet."

"And you came down here on your own?" Quistis demanded. "Squall!"

Seifer snorted, having already heard about the old passage and rolled his eyes at his best friend for using it alone. "Oh, lay off, Quis. When he found the damn thing, he could have already been a SeeD, if it weren't for the age-limit. He was fine on his own."

"But what if you'd fallen?" Quistis demanded, giving the younger SeeD a displeased look. "No one would have even known where you were! Unless you told Seifer..." She turned to glance at the blond.

Seifer shook his head. "Squally didn't tell me about his hide-out until after we became SeeDs."

"I was careful," Squall muttered, feeling rather like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

"Let it go, Quis," October ordered before Quistis could continue berating the younger SeeD. "Maybe no human would have been okay on their own, but we all know Squall's not human, anyway..."

Squall tossed an irritated look at Seifer. "This is your fault."

Seifer grinned and shrugged. "Come on, Squally. Embrace your lack of humanity!"

Squall's eyes narrowed. "I'm not human?" he asked in a dangerous voice.

Seifer's grin faltered. "Erm... I'm not sure I know the answer to that question?"

Squall stared at him for a long moment while Quistis covered a giggle and October shook his head at the two.

Seifer began to sweat a bit under Squall's glare and he blurted, "You're human!"

"Hm." Squall climbed to his feet and stretched slightly. "Insinuate otherwise again, and you're sleeping in your own room," he threatened in an even tone.

"Aw, come on, Squally! It's just a bit of fun!"

Squall nodded. "So is me changing my door codes." Quistis and October laughed while Seifer put on a dramatic wounded look. "Come on."

"He doesn't love me," Seifer said to Quistis and October as they all climbed to their feet.

"You're an idiot," Quistis informed her fellow blond.

Squall rolled his eyes at the lot of them and started down the ladder to the next level. He threw the lever there to open the far doors while the others joined him, all grinning at some joke or another that Squall was kind of glad to have missed. Once they were all down, he led them towards the Garden controls, the four of them dispatching the two Oilboyles before the monsters could do much more than jump out at them.

At the controls, they all stopped and took a moment to stare at the array of incomprehensible levers and switches.

"You sure you can make this thing work?" October asked, looking more than a little uncertain. "I know you're a genius and all, but..."

"I'm not a genius," Squall muttered as he took a moment to look over the controls. He'd come down to view them a couple of times after making SeeD, relating them to the controls of other vessels he'd learned the controls of over the years. Trains probably had the closest pattern, but there were a couple of older boats that had similar layouts, which he'd taken his time to learn and memorise. "And, yes, I can make this work," he added as he flipped the power switch and started the feedback loop that would get the oil running through the old systems.

From what Squall had learned over the years of studying the Garden and his two trips down to the Centran Ruins, the Centrans had created a way to rejuvenate natural resources – 'fossil fuels', the Estharians called them – that was completely beyond anything in the world now. Sure, they still used things like petrol in their motor car and coal in their trains, but there was no system in place to constantly re-use the same supply. Squall had tried, more than once, to figure out how the old Centran systems worked, but he couldn't understand half of it, let alone hope to copy and simplify it for use in cars or boats.

Maybe the Estharians could figure it out. Assuming they could get them to open their borders. And get rid of Adel.

The engines roared to life above them and the platform jerked under their feet, starting up. Quistis and October let out surprised sounds and grabbed for each other at the sudden motion, but Seifer and Squall had already been balanced against it.

Once they were steadily moving up through the floors of Garden – which was disturbing enough without the eldest two SeeDs making horrified sounds every time they approached a ceiling – Seifer stepped up next to Squall at the controls, looking them over with only slightly less confusion than the Ghost had felt upon first discovering them. "Help me out here," he said to his lover, resisting the urge to wrap an arm around Squall's waist; they'd hid their relationship from Cid and the faculty for two years, and this was not the time to break that pattern.

Squall's eyes flickered towards him for a moment before he murmured, "What do you remember about the train?"

Seifer took a moment to decode that, then gazed over the controls again, understanding lighting his eyes. "Huh. You know, with them laying out, instead of on a wall..."

"I know," Squall replied as they broke through the floor of the Headmaster's office and the platform took its place above the large desk. "There's some similarities to the A-Zech series of boats, as well, but these controls are definitely more like a train."

Seifer could see the A-Zech layout in the array in front of him, now that Squall had mentioned it, and he nodded. "How many SeeDs can drive a train?" he wondered, only half joking.

Squall shrugged. "Haven't been keeping track. Ask Cid," he said as he flipped a couple of switches to settle them back down into place, the activation of the system having levitated them above their original position. They hardly needed to be in the air at the moment, though he didn't turn off the system. Just in case.

As if summoned by his name, the lift to the platform whirred and Cid stepped off to join them, staring around in awe. "This is fantastic!"

Squall rolled his eyes, but held his tongue to let Seifer ask, "Cid, how many SeeDs can control a train, do you know?"

"A...train...?" Cid repeated, brow wrinkled in confusion. "I'm not sure. Why?"

"These controls are most similar to a train," Seifer replied, "and unless you want to keep Squall and myself trapped up here as our only pilots, we're going to need someone else."

Panic flickered in Cid's eyes and he looked towards Squall. "But I need you leading everyone, not piloting! I'll find someone!" he promised before bustling off.

"I like how he gave you the chance to turn him down," Seifer muttered to his lover while October and Quistis looked after the retreating Headmaster with faint frowns.

"I never expected to have a choice in the matter," Squall murmured in reply, turning back towards the view of the ocean, eyes narrowed against the glare of the sun. "I'm more qualified than the Ghost ever was."

"True," Seifer agreed, glancing over his shoulder in the direction Squall was looking. "Any sign of her?"

"Not yet."

"What now?" October asked as he and Quistis joined the other two SeeDs at the console. He spared the panel a blank look, almost as if staring at it would impart some knowledge about how to work it. It didn't, of course.

"We wait for Galbadia Garden to show up," Seifer announced, turning his attention back to the elder two while Squall continued staring into the distance. "We should probably see about evacuating the junior classmen, though. And ask about Sis?"

"Cid said she's here," Squall murmured. "October, could you check the library for her?"

October blinked up from the controls and nodded. "Yeah, sure. You think she'll be there?"

"She usually is," Squall agreed, looking away from the sea as October turned to leave. "Quis, could you hunt down the others and see about evacuating the junior classmen? Don't let them out of the building, yet, but have them collect their essentials and gather in the main hall. We'll move Garden next to Balamb Town and let them off there. Also, send Xu and Zell up?"

Quistis nodded. "Sure thing." She turned and followed October down the lift.

"What do you want me doing?" Seifer asked quietly, looking out towards the distance while Squall took the moment to rest his eyes.

Squall allowed a tired smile, more comforted than Seifer would know that his best friend was there to pick up any slack. "Nothing, for now. Help me watch for Ultimecia, I suppose."

Seifer reached a hand over and smoothed it through Squall's hair, almost without looking. "We're going to have to clash with them if we want aboard."

"I know." Squall leaned into the hand, closing his eyes. "At least I'm not fighting against you."

Seifer smiled at that, because Squall had often complained about how good of a strategist he was when he had the time and resources to plan for an attack. "That's true. However, we don't know who she's got over there in my stead; Rai said he didn't recognise her Knight."

Squall nodded. "I know. I'm not too worried, though."

Seifer snorted. "You're putting too much trust in my plans, Squally."

"Then they'd better be unbeatable," Squall replied, a note of teasing in his voice.

Seifer snorted again, but he, honestly, wasn't all that worried. He'd spent the past year working on his ideas for their offence in this battle, occasionally bouncing ideas off Squall and basically planning like he was going to be fighting against himself.

When the lift whirred again, it was Zell and Xu who stepped off, faces painted with awe. "Holy fuck," Zell offered. "This is awesome."

"So glad you approve, Chicken-Head," Seifer retorted, earning him a heated glare from Zell and a faintly disgusted look from Xu.

Squall sighed and turned to take over the watch. "Play nice," he ordered his lover.

Seifer flashed him a grin, then turned sharp eyes on their two friends. "How much did the others tell you?" he asked in the even tone he'd copied from Squall for when he was being particularly serious about something.

Zell and Xu both straightened, catching the heavy feeling in the air and reacting as their training dictated to a request from a higher ranked SeeD. "A Sorceress from the future has taken over Galbadia Garden, using Matron's body as her physical representation in this time," Zell reported, eyes darkening at the thought that anyone would think to use their quasi-mother in such a way. "There were attempts to send missiles towards Balamb and Trabia Gardens, but the Galbadian Missile Base has since been destroyed. Without that option, there is all chance that the Sorceress will be bringing Galbadia Garden here, to fight us Garden-to-Garden."

"Quis, Fuu, Rai, and Roxy are all assisting in gathering and organising the junior classmen," Xu continued, expression professional in spite of the glimmer of very real fear in her eyes. "Irvy and Selph are helping to organise the members of staff that would only get in the way, preparing them to evacuate with the junior classmen. We saw October heading towards the Infirmary with Elle when we were on our way up here, saying something about organising the healing staff there."

Seifer nodded. "Good. Judging by the layout of Garden, the most probable points of access for Galbadian forces will be the front gates, the quad, the garage, the cafeteria, and the second floor classrooms. Squall assures me we can close off all access to the garage and cafeteria, as well as lower barriers over the windows on the second floor, so those shouldn't be a problem." Squall nodded behind him, making a quiet noise of affirmation. "That leaves the front gate and the quad.

"Xu, you'll be in charge of the quad. Expect motorbikes and paratroopers for the most part, so your best idea will be to station your people near the entrance and block them there. I'll be sending all our best magical operatives to assist you there, as well as the group who specialises in guns and bows, since you'll probably be best fighting at a distance. Once they're done with their current missions, Irvy and Fuu will be joining you."

Xu nodded. "We'll keep them out of the main hub at all costs."

Seifer turned to Zell. "Zell, you'll be taking charge of the front gate, with Quis and Rai. I'll be sending you all the sabers and other close-range fighters, as well as a couple indirect magical operatives for support. For the most part, you should be facing Galbadia forces on foot, although you might get a couple with long-range weaponry and magic, so be on your guard."

"You've got it," Zell replied, grim determination making his usually bright eyes darken further.

"With the intercom down," Squall said from his position as look-out, "you're going to have to round up your people yourselves, so I suggest you get to it."

Seifer grimaced. "Yeah, sorry about that. If one of you happen across Doc K, could you ask her to come up? We need to discuss how to position the healers and fire brigade."

"You got it," Zell repeated and both he and Xu shot off salutes before turning and leaving to hunt down their groups and start setting up for the coming battle.

"They'll be fine," Seifer murmured, uncertain if he was reassuring himself or Squall, who stood tense over the controls.

"I know," Squall replied, not relaxing. "We forgot to tell them we would be going over once Galbadia Garden is sufficiently cornered."

"They'll figure it out," Seifer said, shaking his head. "And, if not, the comm should, I hope, be up before Ultimecia gets here."

"Fighting without the comm is going to be nothing but mayhem," Squall agreed. "Once Cid finds a replacement pilot, I'll see if I can't trick the damn thing into ignoring whatever wires the idiots cut."

Seifer grinned at that. "Computer genius."

Squall snorted. "That title I will accept."

"I know." Seifer brushed a hand over the back of Squall's neck and turned his attention to the horizon. "Can you start lowering the walls over the second-floor windows now? And what about the balconies in the Training Centre and at the far end of the second floor?"

Squall turned his attention to the controls, casting back to the drawn maps he'd made of the control panel in the past, deciphering the crisscrossing wires and Centran text under the lines of buttons on the far left of the console. "I can lock them, but I don't want to do that if anyone's out there right now."

"Wait for the balconies, then," Seifer decided. "The windows, though..."

Squall nodded and started the system that would lock down the second floor. The whole building had once been a movable shelter, meant to withstand any monster attack, but when it had been turned into a Garden, they'd added in windows and opened the main hub for a more welcoming feeling. Thankfully, someone on the original building staff had thought to add a system to return the building to a shelter, which meant bringing steel plates down over all the windows and blocking off any entrances and exits. The passages between the outer parts of the building had closed over when the engines started up, but the windows and passages had remained open, having not been a part of the original design.

"We'll wait to close off the garage, balconies, and cafeteria until the intercom is back up," Squall decided as steel plating started falling closed over all the windows in Garden.

The lift whirred again, announcing the arrival of Cid and a couple of cadets. "These two cadets are familiar with trains," the Headmaster offered his two best SeeDs. "Mr Flynn Paz–" he motioned to the older cadet, who wielded a curved blade, "–has a father who is a train conductor. Miss Garcia Bravo–" Cid motioned to the shy junior cadet half-hidden behind her senior, "–is originally from Timber and grew up around trains."

Squall looked the two over – taking in Bravo's nervous mannerisms and Paz's self-assuredness – and mentally whimpered at the lack of options. Aloud, he asked, "Have either of you driven a train before?"

"Once," the boy announced, looking quite smug. "My father let me take the controls on a trip from Dollet to Timber."

The girl inched behind her senior a bit more when Squall's sharp grey-blue gaze turned to her. "A few times," she replied in a quiet, though clear, voice. "We all learned to run the trains. Just in case."

Squall grunted at that and motioned them both forward. "Fine. Seifer, move a bit." Once the blond was out of the way and the two kids had joined him at the console, Squall pointed to a switch and asked, "Your best guesses at what this does."

Ten minutes of quizzing showed that Bravo was clearly the more knowledgeable about the system, but Paz had better reach and reflexes.

"Can you work together?" Squall asked, tuning out the quiet murmurs from Seifer and Kadowaki behind them and Cid's faint humming as he managed the look-out position.

"Work...together?" Paz replied, a look of disgust in his eyes. "Why would I want to work with a kid?"

"Because if you don't work with her, you're going to die," Seifer snapped as Kadowaki hurried back down the lift. "Not only will you die, but so will every other person in this Garden. Unless you want two hundred some-odd deaths on your conscience, you'll be listening to Cadet Bravo's instructions when she tells you what buttons to hit."

Paz glowered at the tall SeeD for only a moment before Seifer narrowed cold green eyes at him. Paz quickly looked away, cowed by the warning in those eyes. "I understand, SeeD Almasy."

Squall turned to Bravo, leaving the boy to his lover. "And you, Cadet Bravo? Can you give directions?"

The girl slumped a bit, eyes watering. "I don't know," she whispered.

Squall rubbed at his scar before kneeling in front of the girl, making him a good head shorter than her, rather than sixty centimetres taller. "Cad– Garcia," he said, gentling his voice and meeting her upset eyes with his own calm gaze, "this isn't a class test or a day with your friends back in Timber, playing at being in charge as you flee make-believe soldiers. This is the real deal, and lives are at stake. I need you here, giving orders to Cadet Paz, so I can be downstairs, keeping our enemies out. Can I trust you up here, or do you need to be evacuated with the other junior classmen?"

Bravo looked down at her hands, clutched in her skirt, then towards the lift, eyes distant. After a moment, her eyes hardened and she looked back at Squall. "I'm Garden," she said, voice quiet, but determined. "I won't leave my post."

Squall nodded and rose to his feet. "Good." He looked between the two cadets, took in their determined expressions, and nodded. "As soon as I get the intercom back up, we'll be moving towards Balamb Town to evacuate the non-combatants. Use this time to familiarise yourselves with the controls and work out a system for giving directions in the quickest manner that you can. Understood?"

Both cadets saluted. "Yes, sir!"

Squall looked towards Seifer. "Find me a couple of look-outs? We can't leave Cid over there all afternoon."

"More the pity," Seifer replied with a smirk shot towards the Headmaster.

Squall rolled his eyes and waved his lover on before raising his voice to call, "Cid?"

"Yes, Squall?"

"Seifer's going to find someone to take your place while I go fix the intercom. Will you be okay on your own?"

Cid smiled into the distance, eyes darting back and forth over the bright stretch of sea. "I should be fine for another twenty minutes or so. But I'd appreciate a sandwich or something, assuming the cafeteria hasn't been shut down completely."

Squall shrugged. "I'll see what I can do," he replied as he started towards the lift, which had returned to the upper floor after Seifer had stepped off in the office below.

"Oh, and Squall?"

"Cid?"

The Headmaster chanced a glance over his shoulder, something dark, yet helplessly lost in his eyes. "We should talk."

Squall nodded. "If we get the chance before Galbadia Garden gets here," he promised before stepping onto the lift and directing it down. 'Now, I just have to decide how much to tell him,' he thought to himself as he turned his attention to the intercom system.

"Perhaps the truth," Shiva suggested drily. "He knows of the Ghost and who he was, so he will not find things completely impossible. And he may relax knowing you have knowledge of what is to happen. The knowledge that his wife will survive this may help him retain his sense in this coming battle, rather than sending him fleeing to the sidelines."

'You sound like Seifer, always trying to get me to tell people about the memories,' Squall complained.

"I agree with the Fire Child," Shiva returned. "Hyne help me, but he makes a good point about sharing this with your friends. All the same, I understand your wish to keep it to yourself. Your friends already trust you, will never question your odd knowledge of things, but Cid might. And you don't need him as your enemy. Is that not the very reason you've kept him in the dark about your relationship with the Fire Child?"

Squall sighed and gave the small computer screen in front of him a disgruntled look, as if it had wronged him – though, really, getting the intercom back online would be child's play, once the feedback loop finished reporting which wires were cut. 'I know. I'll tell him.'

Shiva settled back, pleased.

The computer screen lit with the schematics, cut lines coloured red. Squall shook his head at the damage, then set about working around the plethora of broken connections. Child's play, yes, but tedious all the same.