Without Squall around, Zell was in temporary command of Garden. He sighed at the desk, and nervously tapped his fingers against it, anxiously wondering what to do. He was absolutely clueless, and no one was attempting to give him much help.
Rocking back and forth in the chair, he attempted to think about what he had seen Squall do in this position.
Mainly stand around. Damn!
It all looked so easy. The door opened up, and he looked at it, secretly praying for an angel to come in with inspiration.
Xu walked in, and threw a small stack of papers on his desk, "Okay, Zell, here's the deal. Those are the latest test results--"
Zell interrupted, "What do I do with these?"
She stared blankly at him, and then laughed, "Good one, Zell. With the expression on your face, I thought you were serious!"
He scratched his head and gaped in confusion at the seemingly random numbers on the papers, "No, really. What?"
She sighed, "Look them over!"
"Oh. Anything else?"
"No, the teachers handle the rest."
"Oh-h-h-h…."
"Now, the newest class comes in two days. We're parking near Balamb for their arrival. You have your speech ready, right?"
Zell fell out of the chair, "A what?"
"A speech, Zell. You know, every time a class comes in, the Headmaster says something to them…?"
Zell's jaw dropped, "Xu, I've got an idea. You know a lot about this whole 'running Garden' thing. Me? I'm just the SeeD guy. How 'bout you do this?"
She grinned wildly, "I told Squall you'd fold in a day, and he gave you a week."
He sunk, "You two bet on me?"
"Well, we had a small pool set up…"
He sighed and walked out of the office.
****
Lee and Miles collapsed against the training center wall together. After another rigorous gunblade workout, neither of them much felt like doing anything. Lee panted and caught his breath, then spoke.
"Hey, Miles, so… um… what's up with you?"
Miles' face distorted in confusion as he looked at Lee, "What?"
"I mean, why don't you wanna have a kid, man?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Man, Jas told me all about it."
Miles sighed and bashed his head against the wall, "Look, it's not a big thing, alright?"
Lee bobbed his head around, before proceeding nervously, "Look, man, if… y'know… you got… troubles… there are… operations that can…"
Miles threw his hands up, "THAT'S NOT IT!"
"Oh. Then what?"
"Man, I dunno. Why haven't you married Veronica yet?"
"I just…" Lee froze, unable to think of a reason, "I see what you mean."
"Yeah… it's a big step, man. I mean, I want to… but I'm not sure if I'm ready right now."
"Oh."
"Now will you just shut up about the whole thing?"
Lee laughed.
***
"What's that over there?"
Laguna looked over to the port side of the Ragnorak, where Neos was pointing. He squinted, "That… is the old Lunatic Pandora lab."
"And what happened there?"
"Lotsa stuff, kiddo. Most of it you shouldn't know about."
The child frowned and rose up six fingers, "But I'm six years old now!"
"Yeah, but most of the stuff scares me even today, and I happen to be over 50 years old."
The child laughed, "You're not THAT old, grandpa!"
"I am too, your grandfather is a very old man!" Laguna began to limp and hunch his back over, which merited a laugh from the child. "C'mon kiddo, let's go back to Esthar, I'll take you around the mall, alright?"
Neos nodded.
***
Rinoa glanced over her shoulder nervously. Something about this still didn't seem right, and she wasn't sure why. Squall walked up the steps quickly and knocked on the door. A moment passed, then a series of locks were heard opening, and the door creaked open slightly.
"Who is it?"
Squall recognized the figure in the door, but obviously, Zone didn't recognize him.
"Zone, buddy, you don't know me?"
"No, now go away."
Zone moved to close the door, but Squall shoved his foot in between the door and the frame, "Are you sure that you don't know me?"
"Sir, I'm telling you, go away now."
"How about this then? Seventeen years ago, you put together a good plan to kidnap President Deling, followed up by a half-assed plan to transmit Timber's independence. You then purchased five train tickets, and wound up forfeiting one to Quistis Trepe. For both of those previous operations, you had assistance from SeeD. You have a consistent series of stomach problems-conveniently when trouble arises. To top it all off, how about this?" Squall put one hand on his hip, and posed, "Fine, but this is the last time for this sort of thing."
Zone's jaw dropped, "Squall?"
"Hey Zone, what's up?"
The door flew open, "Squall, what are you doing here? Is Rinoa here?"
Rinoa smiled and waved, "Hi, Zone."
"So why are you two here?"
Squall looked at Rinoa, who looked at Zone, "Galbadia is reforming, Zone. Timber's independence is in trouble if that happens."
Zone scratched his head.
"Get the old crew together." A grin spread across her face, "The Forest Owls are back."
((Next Chapter: A T-Rexaur, Laguna's cabinet, and the beginning))
Rocking back and forth in the chair, he attempted to think about what he had seen Squall do in this position.
Mainly stand around. Damn!
It all looked so easy. The door opened up, and he looked at it, secretly praying for an angel to come in with inspiration.
Xu walked in, and threw a small stack of papers on his desk, "Okay, Zell, here's the deal. Those are the latest test results--"
Zell interrupted, "What do I do with these?"
She stared blankly at him, and then laughed, "Good one, Zell. With the expression on your face, I thought you were serious!"
He scratched his head and gaped in confusion at the seemingly random numbers on the papers, "No, really. What?"
She sighed, "Look them over!"
"Oh. Anything else?"
"No, the teachers handle the rest."
"Oh-h-h-h…."
"Now, the newest class comes in two days. We're parking near Balamb for their arrival. You have your speech ready, right?"
Zell fell out of the chair, "A what?"
"A speech, Zell. You know, every time a class comes in, the Headmaster says something to them…?"
Zell's jaw dropped, "Xu, I've got an idea. You know a lot about this whole 'running Garden' thing. Me? I'm just the SeeD guy. How 'bout you do this?"
She grinned wildly, "I told Squall you'd fold in a day, and he gave you a week."
He sunk, "You two bet on me?"
"Well, we had a small pool set up…"
He sighed and walked out of the office.
****
Lee and Miles collapsed against the training center wall together. After another rigorous gunblade workout, neither of them much felt like doing anything. Lee panted and caught his breath, then spoke.
"Hey, Miles, so… um… what's up with you?"
Miles' face distorted in confusion as he looked at Lee, "What?"
"I mean, why don't you wanna have a kid, man?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Man, Jas told me all about it."
Miles sighed and bashed his head against the wall, "Look, it's not a big thing, alright?"
Lee bobbed his head around, before proceeding nervously, "Look, man, if… y'know… you got… troubles… there are… operations that can…"
Miles threw his hands up, "THAT'S NOT IT!"
"Oh. Then what?"
"Man, I dunno. Why haven't you married Veronica yet?"
"I just…" Lee froze, unable to think of a reason, "I see what you mean."
"Yeah… it's a big step, man. I mean, I want to… but I'm not sure if I'm ready right now."
"Oh."
"Now will you just shut up about the whole thing?"
Lee laughed.
***
"What's that over there?"
Laguna looked over to the port side of the Ragnorak, where Neos was pointing. He squinted, "That… is the old Lunatic Pandora lab."
"And what happened there?"
"Lotsa stuff, kiddo. Most of it you shouldn't know about."
The child frowned and rose up six fingers, "But I'm six years old now!"
"Yeah, but most of the stuff scares me even today, and I happen to be over 50 years old."
The child laughed, "You're not THAT old, grandpa!"
"I am too, your grandfather is a very old man!" Laguna began to limp and hunch his back over, which merited a laugh from the child. "C'mon kiddo, let's go back to Esthar, I'll take you around the mall, alright?"
Neos nodded.
***
Rinoa glanced over her shoulder nervously. Something about this still didn't seem right, and she wasn't sure why. Squall walked up the steps quickly and knocked on the door. A moment passed, then a series of locks were heard opening, and the door creaked open slightly.
"Who is it?"
Squall recognized the figure in the door, but obviously, Zone didn't recognize him.
"Zone, buddy, you don't know me?"
"No, now go away."
Zone moved to close the door, but Squall shoved his foot in between the door and the frame, "Are you sure that you don't know me?"
"Sir, I'm telling you, go away now."
"How about this then? Seventeen years ago, you put together a good plan to kidnap President Deling, followed up by a half-assed plan to transmit Timber's independence. You then purchased five train tickets, and wound up forfeiting one to Quistis Trepe. For both of those previous operations, you had assistance from SeeD. You have a consistent series of stomach problems-conveniently when trouble arises. To top it all off, how about this?" Squall put one hand on his hip, and posed, "Fine, but this is the last time for this sort of thing."
Zone's jaw dropped, "Squall?"
"Hey Zone, what's up?"
The door flew open, "Squall, what are you doing here? Is Rinoa here?"
Rinoa smiled and waved, "Hi, Zone."
"So why are you two here?"
Squall looked at Rinoa, who looked at Zone, "Galbadia is reforming, Zone. Timber's independence is in trouble if that happens."
Zone scratched his head.
"Get the old crew together." A grin spread across her face, "The Forest Owls are back."
((Next Chapter: A T-Rexaur, Laguna's cabinet, and the beginning))