The dreams were full of wings. Black wings. Stretching against the pull of gravity and the force of wind, straining upward, ever upward, until air was too thin to support them; magic came into play here, lifting her beyond the outermost reaches of the atmosphere--time had passed, so much time in her exodus from the world, but it didn't matter, because she wasn't at all tired and they had all the time in the universe....

~


Upon waking, she knew immediately where she was, and why she was there. There was no momentary confusion, no dull surprise. The information was simply waiting in the forefront of her mind as she returned to consciousness.

Thus, it came as no surprise whatsoever when Kadowaki promptly moved over to check on her.

What could not be said, however, was that Kadowaki was not surprised to see the smile of pure, unadulterated elation on Quistis's face.

Before Kadowaki could say anything, Quistis had sat up and given her a reassuring smile. "I feel so wonderful!" she burst out. "Doctor, I know how this must sound, but--I feel better than I ever have in my life!"

"I see," Kadowaki said carefully, probably wishing that she had pressed Cid into having a trained psychiatrist hired. "Would you like to talk about what's going on?"

Quistis was beaming in a way normally reserved for people like Selphie. "I--oh, I don't know. It's all so confusing. But--he loves me. I know it!"

Uh, oh. Kadowaki hoped fervently that this wasn't some sort of misconception that would wind up hurting Quistis more in the end. "Who is 'he?'" she asked.

Quistis's demeanor immediately changed. She became a bit uncertain, a bit nervous, perhaps. "I don't know if I can tell you," she said. "He might not want that."

"Quistis," Kadowaki began.

"I know what you're going to say," Quistis said, narrowing her eyes at the doctor. "It's not like that at all. He saved me. And in his position, I'm not sure I would want you to know who I was, either."

Kadowaki didn't look at all convinced.

Quistis stood. "I would like to leave now," she said gravely. "And I don't think you should like to stop me."

Kadowaki frowned. "Truth be told, Quistis, I'm quite concerned about the way you've been acting--"

Quistis's face softened. "I understand that," she said. "But I really do feel fine now. You have my word on it."

Kadowaki still looked skeptical. Quistis sighed.

"I promise," she said. "If anything is bothering me at all, I'll come and speak with you. Anything at all."

Kadowaki shook her head a bit in defeat. "Fine," she said. "But I want you to come check in here tonight, regardless of how you're feeling. All right?"

"All right," Quistis agreed. "I will. But you don't need to worry so much, doctor. He'll take care of me."

Quistis quickly made her way out of the infirmary, not allowing Kadowaki the time to say that that was, in part, what she was afraid of. The doctor sighed. She hated not knowing what was going on, what she should be able to do.

After a moment, she went to sit at her computer terminal and tried to make herself useful. Maybe she could brush up on her knowledge of emotional disorders before Quistis came in that night.