Disclaimer: As the same with all the other chapters, I don't own anything I didn't come
up with. That belongs to Square. I do this for no profit. Blah, blah, blah.

Additional Note: This is not only by me, but also Nightstalker. Just thought I'd
reiterate that for everyone. Remember it because this is the last time I'm gonna say it! He gets
credit, dammit! Now on with the show!

Chapter 13: Parting Ways

The next morning, the group embarked for Fisherman's Horizon aboard the Garden, towing
the Ragnarok behind for repairs. It turned out to be a very calm ride, everyone not saying too
much along the way. Vira had nearly locked herself away in her room for the duration of the trip,
barely ever coming out to speak to anyone. The group let her be, convinced that when she was
ready, she'd tell them whatever was on her mind.

Another beautiful day was in full swing when they arrived at FH. Like most days in
Balamb, the sun above them shown warmly down on everyone, bathing everything in golden heat. An
expansive blue sky stretched as far as the eye could see, without a cloud in sight. Recently the
docks had been rebuilt, and the Master Fisherman sat at his usual perch, watching Garden dock as
he casted his line.

The entire group stepped off the Garden onto the rusty catwalk to the town of FH. Dorin
dubiously looked around the surroundings, almost like he didn't believe it existed. With Squall
taking the lead, the group began walking towards the lift to town. Dorin took in the rusty
catwalk and laid back demeanor of several of the people and leaned in close to Vira. "What in
Hyne's name is this place?"

She turned to Dorin and answered, "This is Fisherman's Horizon."

Dorin looked unimpressed. "As if I couldn't tell by the smell," he muttered.

"What's the problem?" Vira asked.

Dorin shook his head at the rusty, almost falling apart machinery around him and the
grimy workers operating them. "People actually live here? There can't be that much money to keep
this place going."

"They broke off from Esthar a while ago," Vira explained. "They live here, and work
here. Very good at fixing things from what I've heard. I think they're supposed to be reparing
the Ragnarok or something. Money isn't something on their minds, I believe. Why? Is there
something wrong with it?"

Dorin shrugged. "Just not very equitable or profitable. I'm not sure if I really see the
point to it all. I mean, what do they get out of it? Where is there military, if they can afford
one that is."

Squall heard this and almost chuckled. Looking over his shoulder he said, "There's no
military here, Dorin. They don't believe in fighting. In fact, they weren't very happy to have
us here the last time. They think everything can be solved by talking it out."

"Plus, they just enjoy fixing things, living life with their philosophies. They're not
in it for profit," Vira added.

Dorin shook his head. "It's a wonder the Galbadians haven't turned this place into a
smoking crater before now."

"Quiet," Irvine said. "They might hear you."

Rinoa's eyes widened and she stared right at Dorin. "Yeah, they already tried to burn
this place down when they were looking for Ellone. They don't like SeeDs already. Keep it down."

"Yeah." Vira shook her head. "Show a little respect for them, okay? They're good at what
they do."

Dorin shook his head again and mumbled under his breath. "Give the serfs a place of
their own and this is what you get..."

"I heard that," Vira whispered back. "For your sake, I hope Squall has us leave
immediately."

Dorin shrugged again and followed the group as they walked to the lift and boarded it.
The operator looked at them knowingly and switched the lift on, the ancient motor whirring to
life as the lift descended into the heart of Fisherman's Horizon.

Squall looked out to the town, where the Mayor's house was situated in the middle of a
large light blue covered dish that glistened in the sunlight. "I'll have to go talk to the Mayor
about the Ragnarok. You guys can walk around the town if you want. We'll all meet back at the
hotel in an hour. All right?"

"Okay!" Selphie grinned. "Irvy, let's go check out the piers, okay? They're so calm and
pretty."

Irvine laughed and nodded. "Okay, Sefie, okay."

Dorin glanced at Vira, as if asking, "What now?" Zell looked around, looking bored to
death.

Vira threw up her hands defensively. "Don't look at me. I'm just going to go sit over
there near the water for a while. Do whatever you want, just...don't get into trouble." She then
turned, silently walking down the railroad tracks.

Zell looked at Dorin, who shrugged impassively. He then walked down the tracks to where
Vira was sitting and sat down next to her, saying nothing.

Without looking, Vira demanded, "What is it?"

Dorin just shook his head. "I didn't say a thing."

"Then what are you doing here?" she asked.

"Sitting, perhaps?" Dorin said mildly.

Vira sighed exasperatedly. "Why here, is what I mean."

"This is as good a place as any. There's no reason to be defensive about it."

"Fine," Vira answered. "There just isn't any way for me to have some alone time anymore,
is there?"

"It's not good to be alone all the time. Besides, you were alone during the trip here,"
Dorin argued.

"I haven't had enough time to just be alone and thing since I came to Balamb Garden.
When your life gets turned upsidedown by something I think you deserve a little time to let it
sink it. The trip here wasn't enough," she explained, looking into the deep azure water.

"True," Dorin replied. "But when you're alone, you worry about it until it's the only
thing you can think of, and that can lead to disaster."

Vira suddenly stood up, now looking across the horizon. "I never said I was going to
worry about it. I just wanted to let the damn thing sink in. Is there a problem with that?"

Dorin sighed. "Forget I said anything then." He got up and walked back towards where the
Garden was docked, saying nothing.

Vira watched him leave, inwardly sighing. Yes, it was hard dealing with what was going
on, but that was no reason to be rude. Yet, she did feel like he wasn't going to leave her alone
unless she told him she just needed to be that way. Still, her conscience told her that what she
did was wrong, and decided to apologize later. Zell, still standing around stared at Vira,
bemused.

"What?" she snapped.

Zell was taken aback by her sudden mood swing. He put his hands defensively, as if
warding off a blow. "I didn't say anything! I was just watching!"

Vira closed her eyes, running her fingers through her hair, and she sighed again. "I'm
sorry, Zell," she apologized. "I'm not having a good week."

Zell smiled easily. "It's okay. We all have our off days. Or weeks as the case may be.
Don't worry. It'll get better. Hey, maybe they'll actually have hot dogs in the cafeteria
tonight!"

Vira rolled her eyes. "Yes, and all my problems will just disappear once I go to Esthar."

"Hey, stranger things have happened," Zell reasoned. "Squall and Rinoa did get together,
after all."

"Heh," Vira chuckled. "Well, I don't think this is something that can just be solved
with a trip to some doctor." She stopped, sitting back down at the edge of the railroad, looking
out over the horizon.

"Huh?" Zell said, puzzled. "I thought we were going to see what Laguna had turned up on
Xana."

Vira cringed and cursed at herself, smacking herself in the forehead. "Yeah..." she
started. "But, I'm gonna go see Dr. Odine. Believe me, I didn't really want to do it much
either, but there wasn't really a choice here."

"Ohhhhhh," Zell said, understanding. "About the nightmares, right? Yeah, he should be
able to help ya with that. He helped Matron suppress her powers, so that sorta thing should be
cake."

"Yeah...." she said quietly. "Something like that."

Zell looked at her curiously. He didn't...couldn't understand Vira. Her motives, her
thoughts, even most of her personality was a mystery. All he knew was that she never smiled, she
was either always apathetic or angry, and she wanted to keep to herself. Zell had never met a
girl like Vira before. While she reminded him of Squall in a lot of respects, she still seemed
like a different person underneath. Although, any attempts to be friendly to her were thrown
right back in your face. That was evident by what she kept doing to Dorin. Even Zell could tell
that Dorin was only trying to get to know her, and she would throw it back at him. After he had
first met her, Zell had made it his mission to see her smile sometime, anytime, and try to get
to know her better. He still wanted to see her smile, but getting close would be more difficult
than anything else. She was being vague as hell, that was for sure...

"Well, I wouldn't worry about it too much. Dr. Odine can fix ya up quick. In the
meantime, wanna get something to eat? I think they've got a restaurant down near the hotel."

Vira shrugged. "I guess so...lead the way."

FH's resturant was small and as disorganized looking as the rest of the town. Neither of
the two minded that, just taking a seat at an open table. Soon after a waitress took their
orders, disappearing into the kitchen. Not long later, she came back with their meals, told them
to enjoy, and moved on to other customers. Zell munched happily on his hot dog while Vira just
poked at the plate of fried chicken in front of her. Zell knew that she was down for some
reason, but she was being stubborn about letting it come out. He wished that there was some way
he could see her smile, just once...

-Oh God, the necklace, dumbshit!-

Eagerly, he reached into his pocket and fished out the silver necklace. "Here, I think
you dropped this back in Draconia. I picked it up cuz I knew it was yours."

Vira eyed the necklace as if it was the plague.

-You can't get away from yourself, can you? It's just going to follow you wherever you
go.-

"Keep it," she mumbled.

Zell was confused. "You sure? I mean, it's yours and all..."

Vira looked at Zell, perplexed that he hadn't recognized the symbol before.

-How could you not put it together, Zell? It won't be long before everyone else does.
Might as well tell him before he figures it out and goes blabbing about it to everyone...-

"It...makes me stand out. I don't need that right now," she answered, again poking at
her chicken.

Zell shrugged, slipping it back into his pocket. "Okay, if you say so..." He sighed to
himself and finished his hot dog silently.

"You...don't think that thing looks familiar at all?" Vira asked, almost immediately
regretting the words she had just spoken.

Zell, thought for a moment. "No, I don't...well, now that you mention it, it kinda
does...whoa..."

His eyes went wide, realizing what Vira was implying.

"Yeah..." Vira turned back to her chicken.

"Wait a sec. You mean that you and Xana met before? Where? When? How?!" Zell was so
confused, he didn't know where to start.

Sighing heavily, Vira began, "She told me something back when we were in Draconia and I
have every reason to believe that she's right....she said she's my mother and she killed my
father."

Zell nearly fell out of his chair. He recovered and tried to make sense of it all.
Xana...was Vira's MOTHER? The entire idea made no sense to him, just perplexing Zell beyond
anything he could imagine.

"Whoa," he finally said. "That's just...whoa."

Vira shrugged slightly, looking a little morose about it. "Yeah, I guess you could say
that."

Zell shook his head. "Nah, there's no way. She's just saying that to get at you. To keep
you off balance."

"No," Vira protested. "Why would she have the same damn symbol on her ship as my
necklace does? How could she know exactly what the woman in my nightmares has been saying to me?
How could she sound the same? Nightmares don't give you bleeding scars. But she can." She
quickly pulled back her right sleeve of her jacket, revealing the small scar she had.

Zell opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. He closed it again and
looked down. "So what are you going to do?" he finally asked.

"I don't know...I don't know anything anymore..." Vira trailed off, thinking about it
hadn't done much good, and seemed like talking about it wasn't working either. "I don't know who
I am now. But Squall thinks I should talk to Dr. Odine about it."

Zell nodded. "Sounds like a good idea. You think he can help?"

Vira frowned. "I-I-I have no idea. I've never met him. Right now I just would like to
disappear from the planet...." She looked down at her food.

Zell didn't know what to say. This was just so weird and so confusing, he was at a loss
for words.

"Well, you can't disappear. For one, we still need to stop Xana, and two, I haven't seen
you smile yet."

Vira kept her eyes down. "I would like to...I don't think I can look at her again....and
as for smiling, there isn't anything you're missing. I can't remembered the last time I smiled
...or was even happy..."

Zell looked down, afraid to say anything else. Her depression was contagious.

"Well, let's at least go back to the Garden. You can think things over there," he
suggested.

"How long until we have to meet Squall and the others at the hotel?" Vira inquired.

Zell looked at his watch. "About a half an hour."

"Oh...okay..." Vira rose from her seat, pushing it back in its place afterwards.

"Where you headed?" Zell asked.

"I...don't know..." Vira admitted, quietly. Thinking about it wasn't doing any good,
talking about it hadn't done much good. She was running out of options and all she could think of
was wandering aimlessly until she needed to meet the others, just try to walk it all off. Maybe
if she walked far enough, she could leave it all behind her. Although, such irrational thoughts
didn't seem to be really a good idea, they were the only things she could come up with. She was
beginning to feel like she was losing her mind, cracking up, going insane.

"Okay." Zell got up. "I'll be around the Garden until it's time. Just remember, we need
ya."

Vira chucked bitterly. "Need me for what? A nervous breakdown?"

Zell frowned. "Vira..."

"What?"

Zell opened his mouth, then shut it again. "Nothing. I'll see you later," he muttered as
he shuffled past her and out the door.

No, Vira wasn't gonna let this drop. She figured what Zell had to say was important, and
she had enough of keeping secrets for one day. She ran out the door calling after him, "What is
it?"

Zell turned and blew out a breath. "Vira, if you don't start trusting us and stop being
so damned reclusive, Xana will have you beaten even with out fighting you. As it is, you blow
off every attempt to help you and you don't have a single close friend in SeeD. You need to
start trusting people and not be so withdrawn."

He sighed. "Maybe that's not what you wanted to hear, but it's the truth."

Vira's face dropped entirely, for this first time Zell had ever seen. Her eyes began to
get glassy and her voice was spoken in uneven tones. "I don't know how! I haven't known since I
was a little kid! I've forgotten any kinda social skills I had a long time ago..."

A single tear rolled down Vira's face, followed by another. Zell's heart went out to
her. He took her by the shoulders and hugged her as Vira began to sob into his shoulder.

Dorin was walking back down the tracks to see if Vira needed anymore help when he saw
them together, hugging. Dorin stopped suddenly, shocked. His heart felt like it had just
imploded on itself, his jaw clenched tight.

Without saying a word, unnoticed to both Zell and Vira, he silently turned and walked
back the way he came, his head a swirl of emotions.

"How can I help anyone when I don't even know who I am?" Vira sobbed, completely out of
control of herself. She couldn't remember ever crying, not even when she was little. It was such
an odd feeling, a complete loss of any control she had over herself. She felt so utterly lost,
even with Zell hugging her. She felt so removed from herself, she wasn't even aware he was doing
it. Vira felt numb and overly alert all at the same time, more confused than she ever had before.

Zell whisperd into her ear, stroking her short dark hair. "No one's asking you to help
anyone but yourself. And you don't have to do it alone, either."

He had never seen anyone just totally fall apart in front of him before, and Zell wasn't
completely sure what he was doing was the right thing. He felt so sorry for Vira, how much she
didn't understand about herself, but at the same time his thoughts about being something more to
her were dwindling. Zell didn't doubt for a second that he wanted to be there for her, wanted to
be her friend and stand by her. At the same time, he wasn't sure that they were meant to be
anything more than that. It wasn't that it hurt, but it felt a little odd. Especially with her
sobbing into his shoulder. Maybe being her friend would become a little easier now. Or at least
making her smile. If nothing, Zell was determined to see her smile sometime, friend or not.

Vira looked down, her face still very wet. "But being alone is all I know..."

Zell lifted her face up to his. "That doesn't mean you have to be."

She pushed herself back from Zell, staring at him. "But they were right. All those kids
at the orphanage. I'm not like them. Or you guys. I don't belong here or anywhere else!"

Zell looked at her, trying to make her understand. "Yes you do. You belong here because
we like you. Everyone, even Seifer though he wouldn't admit it. And even if they don't, I do..."

She shook her head, frantically running her finger through her hair. "No, you don't
understand. I'm not supposed to even exist in the first place!"

Zell was starting crack himself. "What do you mean?"

Vira began to wipe her face a little, but still felt completely unhinged. "She kept
saying I'm just a mistake. I'm not meant to be here at all. That's all she's said and I keep
hearing it whenever I sleep now..."

He shook his head. "Then why would a mistake be so lovely? You're not a mistake, Vira.
Xana is just trying to throw you off. She's a power mad bitch that's out for world domination,
that's all."

"That's another thing! I could be just like her and not even know it!" Vira exclaimed,
not even really sure what she was saying that this point. Her emotions had control of her for
the first time and they were running wild.

Zell looked her straight in the eye. "That doesn't mean a damn thing. Rinoa is a
sorceress, and look at her now."

"Xana's different...I could be just as insane as she is...hell, I feel like I'm half-way
there already..." Vira muttered darkly.

Zell couldn't help but chuckle. "Join the club."

Vira wasn't amused. "See how funny it is when what happened in Dollet happens again."

Zell shut up. "It didn't happen when you confronted her directly. And it hasn't happened
since."

Vira narrowed her eyes at Zell, pointing a finger at him. "But you don't know that it
can't happen again. She has an effect on me, you can't deny that and if it happened it Dollet
once, it can happen again."

"Maybe, but it hasn't! Please, Vira, work with me here!" Zell pleaded, desperate to make
her calm down and understand.

Vira closed her eyes for a second, putting both her hands on her head. Then she thew
them outward and stared at Zell. "What do you want me to do?!"

Zell shook his head, at a loss at what to do. "I don't know, Vira. If I could make
everything better, I would in a heartbeat."

Her eyes glazed over, almost as if she just stopped paying attention. That she was deep
in thought. "Who am I? Of all people I thought I'd at least know that..." Silently she turned
around, slowly walking down the tracks.

Zell took a step forward, but let her go. He never felt so helpless in his life. He
turned and punched the wall next to him in frustration, nearly breaking down before he turned
the opposite way.

Dorin walked down the hall to the Quad, nodding absently to the SeeDs he passed on the
way. He supposed he shouldn't be angry, he wasn't going out with Vira in the first place. So why
did he feel so betrayed, so hurt inside?

Dorin cursed to himself and entered the Quad. The sounds of softly flowing water greeted
him, the ocean breeze blowing into his face. He walked down the stairs and and onto the
observation deck. He took off his trench coat and vest, letting the sun warm his skin. He stood
there a second, trying to clear his mind, and then he drew his honor blade and began his
exercises.

He'd been shirking on training lately, but he'd been too busy with all that had
happened. He began to thrust and cut at invisible enemies, feinting and dodging around the empty
Quad. As he went through his routine, he began to think. Why did it bother him so much when he
say Vira and Zell together, hugging?

Perhaps it was because Zell had done something he couldn't. Dorin had to acknowledge
that that was part of the reason. He didn't take defeat lightly, and when it was a defeat of the
heart, it seemed to be especially painful.

-But you're not dating her. What she does in her personal life is her concern, not
yours. There's something else, Lord-Heir, that you're overlooking.-

Dorin knew that there was something else, but he didn't know what. After all, Vira had
been nothing but extremely rude to him. She'd blown off every attempt by him to actually open
communication and she'd been even more so these past few days. Though, he had to admit to
himself, he hadn't been the most open person in the world either. From the way he blew up at her
in Draconia right on down to this afternoon in FH, he'd been a prejuidiced, arrogant,
self-righteous bastard. She didn't deserve it, and he knew that it was probably why she wasn't
anymore friendlier to him.

-Oh yeah, and don't forget she's the daughter of the woman that turned your homeland
into a slaughtering ground.-

Dorin didn't like the way his mind had brought it up, but he couldn't deny it. She was
the daughter of the Xana, so that pretty much killed any sort of relationhip he could've hoped
for. That brought up another disturbing question: what if Xana was a sorceress? Could she have
the powers of a sorceress? He knew from history that powerful sorceresses almost always went
insane because of their powers, or they became lustful after more power, as was the case for
Adel. Would that be the same fate for Vira?

Not if he could help it, Dorin vowed. He may not be that good of a friend to her, and
she might not like it, but it was the least he could do. He owed her the lifes of many in
Draconia when she drove off Xana, and he would not let her down.

Dorin finished his exercise with a flurry of powerful cuts and stopped, breathing hard.
He wiped sweat from his brow and straightened up. He let his sword run across the flesh of his
arm, opening the scar as pain blossomed from the wound. Dorin wiped and sheathed the sword.
However, he didn't heal the wound right away. He let it bleed, running down his arm and letting
it drip from his fingertips. He felt like all the negative feelings and anger from before were
bleeding out of him in the crimson flow. He muttered a few words and the wound glowed for a
second before it closed. He turned around to get a towel to wipe off his bloody arm when he saw
Vira standing there, watching him. He'd been so caught up in his training exercise and his
thoughts that he hadn't known she was there.

After walking away from Zell, Vira had wandered around FH for a few minutes, finding
herself back at Garden. She didn't know that Dorin was going to be in the Quad, but had
remembered how peaceful it was there that night she talked to Squall. In her odd state, she
thought maybe the tranquility of the Quad would bring her back to her sanity, but instead she
saw Dorin practicing. Something she had never seen. A Draconian in action was different than any
other fighting style she had seen. There was a deadly elegance about it, so much so that she had
been entranced by it. She had watched Dorin's practice session, mesmerized by the flowing
movements that she had neglected to announce her presence. Now that he saw her, Vira figured she
might as well apologize for being rude. It seemed to her that lately all she was doing was
apologizing for her behavior.

"I'm sorry about earlier. I shouldn't have blown up at you like that. It was wrong and I
apologize. Everything's just a little...confused right now," she said, her voice now sounding
monotonous again.

Dorin merely nodded, his face emotionless. "It's alright," he said. He stooped down and
picked up a towel and wiped the blood from his arm.

"Very impressive, the training that is," Vira added to avoid an awkward silence.

Dorin nodded again, putting on his vest after he towled off. "I've gotten out of the
habit with the recent events and all."

"That's understandable."

"Indeed." Dorin strapped his honor blade to his back and put his trench coat on. Then he
looked at Vira. "Where's Zell?"

She shrugged back at him. "I don't know. Somewhere in town, I guess." Vira was slightly
suspicious that he had brought up Zell, but recalled that he was the only other one there when
Dorin had went back to Garden, so she dismissed it.

Dorin felt mildly interested as to what happened, but he decided that it was best he
didn't bring it up. "Very well. How long do we have till we meet up with Squall and the others?"

"Fifteen minutes," she answered.

Dorin sighed. "I suppose we should get going then."

"All right."

They walked out of the quad and towards the elevator to the second floor. Dorin said
nothing. If Vira wanted to start a conversation, she'd say something. Dorin pushed the button to
the second floor and the doors slid open.

"Something bothering you?" Vira asked.

Dorin inwardly cringed. "Why?" he said as he entered the elevator after Vira.

"Because you're acting like something is," she answered. "You're more stiff than usual."

Dorin smirked. "That must be pretty bad."

"Your jaw isn't clenched like you're going to crush something normally. That's all I'm
saying," Vira said, looking at the elevator doors.

Dorin sighed.

-Might as well get it over with...-

"I saw you and Zell outside on the train tracks...together." Dorin braced himself for
the inevitable backlash.

Vira looked down, it was hard enough keeping herself together at the moment, and now
she'll have to explain to Dorin about a nervous breakdown. Things just kept getting worse.
"Yeah...nervous breakdowns are pretty hard to understand. On everyone's part."

Dorin looked at her. "Are you sure you need to be actively engaged in this then?"

"I have no choice in the matter," Vira explained. "I asked Squall if I could get out or
something, but this thing to Esthar was all he could offer."

Dorin shook his head. "I don't see why you couldn't have."

"Neither do I. But it really isn't my place to ask questions about it. I asked, I got
all I could. I'll just have to deal with it," she replied simply.

Dorin nodded as the doors slid open. "I guess. Still..."

Vira stepped out of the elevator, looking back at Dorin. "What?"

Dorin stepped out of the elevator. "I guess I fail to see why they don't let you rest at
least for a few days."

Vira sighed. "I don't either, but maybe taking a break would just make things worse."

Dorin nodded and said nothing as they walked to the observation deck.

"I guess you haven't seen someone just have a nervous breakdown before, huh? I'm sorry
if it disturbed you or anything. I haven't been myself..." Vira trailed off, hell, she didn't
even know herself now.

Dorin glanced at her sideways. "I've seen shell shock before. That's about as close I've
seen a nervous breakdown."

"I have a feeling it was worse than shell shock..." Vira stepped onto the rusty catwalk.
"But I am sorry if it was disturbing or anything. I lost control."

Dorin shook his head. "It's alright. But it wasn't as bad as shell shock." Dorin looked
off into the ocean. "Nothing can be as bad as shell shock."

"How so?" She asked, continuing down a flight of stairs. A gust of sea breeze blew her
hair across her face.

Dorin sighed as he remembered. "When I was about 7, Esthar tried to invade us. They
bombarded our coastal defences day and night for about a week. Father was in charge of the
defenses, and I saw several men that had succumbed to the shell shock. They..." Dorin swallowed
thickly. "Their sanity had been destroyed. They twitched convulsively. They would shout
incoherently. Some of them hid under matresses, saying that the shelling would be starting
again, that wild look in their eye..." Dorin trailed off, eyes glazed over.

Vira looked down. Yes, it wasn't as bad as shell shock, but her breakdown in Dollet was
similar. "I'm sorry...I know how bad that can be...Esthar must've found your country by sheer
accident, and since Adel was such a monster, she just said, "the hell with it, attack."
I'm sorry..."

Dorin smirked. "Well it wasn't Adel, actually. But yes, the gist of it was correct.
Fortunately, Adel never received a word of it." Dorin stepped onto the lift and nodded to the
operator. "They were destroyed as they tried to land."

"Oh," Vira said. "I never told you about Dollet, did I?"

"No, I don't believe you did."

"Well," Vira started as she climbed onto the lift into FH. "There was a SeeD exam being
held there and I was there to assist the cadets if they needed my help. We were against the
G-Army there too. One cadet needed my help, so I fought against a soldier. But...something
happened when I was fighting him...I snapped. I saw...they told me I killed the man and was
beating his corpse, yelling out something. I didn't know what I was doing."

Dorin looked thoughtful. "Like the Rage..." he said softly.

"The what?" Vira asked, stepping off the lift.

Dorin mentally kicked himself for not telling her sooner. "During the battle of Verner,
I succumbed to the Dragon Rage. It's when someone who's taken in too much dragon blood is
overcome with a fury and starts attacking anything within reach. The eyes turn red and the
strength and speed is tripled. There's also been tales of those who have never come back from
the Rage, turning into bloodthirsty monsters," he added, subdued.

"Geez..." Vira breathed. "That is something...how terrible...except what I did wasn't
the same...it was just triggered by what I saw..."

"The Rage can be triggered by the same thing. I was fighting a paratrooper when it hit
me. All the visions came flowing before me. Drayden, the baby, everything."

"Oh..." Vira said, seeing the hotel in the distance. "I saw Xana....in the face of the
soldier."

Dorin nodded. "Indeed..." A thought came to Dorin. As far fetched as it may seem, there
was still a chance...

"Vira? Have you ever been to Draconia before? Like when you were little? Or might Xana
be Draconian?"

Vira shrugged, opening the door to the hotel. "I have no idea. As far as I know, I've
been in Deling City almost all my life. Or Galbadia Garden. As for Xana, I don't know a damn
thing about her."

Dorin nodded. "It's far fetched, but it might explain how she knew about Draconia." They
walked up the rickety wooden steps to the second floor of the hotel.

"As if I didn't have enough confusion already, now I have to throw that in," Vira
whispered, stepping into the room.

Everyone was already there, most of them standing. Except for Zell who was sitting on
the lower bunk bed. Quistis was staring out the window as Seifer stood nearby, looking at his
gunblade yet again. Squall saw Vira and Dorin enter and nodded.

"Okay, we can begin," he said.

Dorin looked around. "Where's Selphie and Irvine?"

Squall looked around and sighed. "I thought they were here a minute ago."

"They went outside for some air or somethnig," Quistis absently said, still staring out
the window.

Seifer smirked. "Or they could be coming up for air."

Squall stared at Seifer. "What do you mean?"

Before he could answer, Irvine and Selphie entered, both grinning widely. "Heya guys.
Sorry we're late," Selphie said.

"Where have you been?" demanded Squall.

"Uh, getting some air," Irvine said, winking at Selphie. Selphie giggled and Seifer shot
a Squall a "see I told you so" look.

Squall shook his head and began, "All right. Since we're now all here we can start.
Zell, Vira and Dorin are going to Esthar to see if Laguna has turned up anything more on Xana.
The rest of us are going to head to Deling City, see if Xana's there and what is going on there.
Any questions?"

Dorin silenltly wondered why he was being cursed. Vira was okay, but with Zell,
especially with what happened before...

-Nothing you can do about it, so just do it.-

"What exactly are we looking for?" Irvine asked. "I mean, we can go to Galbadia Garden
and find out just as much as we can by going to Deling."

"We still haven't heard anything about General Caraway since the announcement. There
could be something going on at his mansion. Of course, stopping by Galbadia Garden would be good
too. We should probably go there first, then to Deling." Squall suggested, and then noticed
Dorin looking rigid. "Problem, Dorin?"

Dorin mentally cursed at himself again and tried to loosen up. "No."

"Okay, let's get going then. After we've found everything we can, we should head back to
Garden here. See you three soon," Squall said. Afterwards he began walking down the stairs,
quickly followed by Rinoa, Quistis, Seifer, Irvine and Selphie. This left just Zell, Vira and
Dorin in the hotel room.

Dorin sighed. "Well, shall we?"

"Yeah, let's go," Zell said in an unusually subdued voice. He got up and didn't look at
Vira as he left.

Vira shook her head.

-My problems just get more and more complicated. Now I have to apologize to Zell too.
How come I have to keep apologizing to everyone? This is what I get for even talking to people.
I do everything wrong and have to apologize...-

"Yeah..." Vira concured, walking past Dorin and down the stairs.

Dorin shook his head, wondering how the hell they'd all get along without killing each
other. He walked down the stairs, following the two SeeDs.

Author's comments: Well, I told you the next chapter would come quickly. How's one day
for ya? Huh? Things are heating up a little now. The group heading to Galbadia Garden run into
trouble in a new form, while the group in Esthar find some shocking new information about Xana.
Of course, there's gonna be a good amount of comedy when Dr. Odine sees Vira for her nightmares.
Don't worry, there's gonna be a bunch of drama in there too. So, until next time, please R&R to
let us know how you like this latest installment. :)