Chapter Two
Wide eyed, Squall felt his face burning as he turned to look at the girl. She though, didn't look surprised, just nervous. She is pretty…well, pretty. She has black hair down to her shoulders; sharp, brown eyes; she has a silver necklace and a silver earring; she's wearing a pair of black shorts, and a white logo T.
Wow. That's all that Squall could think of at the moment.
"Hello!" Xu waved her hand in front of Squall's face, and said.
"Oh." Then he flashed back from being dazed a minute ago. "Hey." Squall said quietly.
Xu looked around, at Zell and the other girls. "Could we have a moment?" She asked them.
Zell waved his hand at Xu. "Sure. Go ahead. We are just about to take a walk… We'll, em… Come back a few minutes later. 'K?" Zell motioned the girls to go with him. All of the girls quickly gathered around Zell, and they left.
"Sit with me." The girl said, quite commandingly, directing Squall to a chair next to her.
"Sure." Squall mumbled, quickly sat down.
Xu turned her chair toward him, putting her hands on her lap, turned toward Squall and said, "I guess you got my mail?"
Squall nodding his head. "Yeah."
"So?"
Squall tried to make sound with his mouth, but nothing came out. He waited a few moments. "I just came down here to speak to Zell. And I didn't know you were here."
"Well, that didn't go right." She said, with a tilt of her head. "Pretend that I wasn't here. What were you saying to that…boy?"
"Well, you know, guys stuff…"
"Ohh… so… You were gotta talk about that letter in your hand?"
"Yeah…well…"
"So, yeah or no?" The girl asked again.
Again, Squall is Speechless. Yeah, Squall wants girl friend. But he's not in to the girlfriend - boyfriend thing. But still…
Squall opened his hand in front of her, and waved them sideways. "… Uh … sure. Why not?"
"Great!" Xu said, with a smile on her face. "Now we'll just wait for them to come back. I can't wait to tell them the news…"
Squall buried his face in his hand, and let out a great breath. His face is burning hot. He bets that Zell will immediately talking about wedding plans when he gets back.
They waited for a few minutes for them to come back, but they didn't. Great, he thought, maybe they forgot that we were here. Xu walked around the cafeteria to check if they came back. But, too, she came back pretty quickly.
She made a gesture with her hands, meaning that she didn't find anything, and sat back down next to him. "Where are they?" She said quietly with a little frustration in her voice.
The people are starting to leave to prepare for their afternoon classes. Soon, half the people in the cafeteria are gone. Squall is really getting tense now.
A sudden bang came from across the hall from where they are sitting. Everyone turned his or her heads to look. Some ran toward there. Some scream pierced the muttering voices, and even more people ran toward the scene. Xu stood up, and walked quickly with the crowd. She turned and shouted at Squall. "Com-on!" Yet, Squall stood up quickly, and too ran.
They followed the flow of the people until they stopped because they are blocked by a big crowd gathered around the elevator entrance. Squall heard some people screaming, again.
Squall and Xu tried to squeeze through the crowd, only to find that the crowd squeezed back at them. He felt Xu pulled on his sleeve. He turned and saw Xu pointed at the top of the stairs. He shook his head, and followed her to it.
Squall got to the top of the stairs a few seconds after Xu did. He saw Xu covered her mouth wide-eyed, looks as though she might faint any time now. He turned. And he was almost about to faint too.
Over the crowd, he saw the very unlikely thing. It was Zell. The other girls were in a bunch next to him. Several feet away, to the right of him, it was a Behemoth.
Strange creatures roam freely as they would on Squall's world. Most of them live in plains and forests, where they're not easily disturbed. But at Balamb Garden, the teachers bring in exotic, mostly very dangerous creatures to the training center in the Garden. Some classes, like Squall's battle class, takes place in the training center.
The Behemoth, how ever, was brought in a couple of weeks ago by Norg, the battle class professor. It was still a baby. It was two months old. But, no one is saying awws at the moment. Well, maybe awes of amazement. It was as big as an armored vehicle, with purple leather skin, two horns as long as Squalls Gun Blade. From one angle, it looks like a giant purple elephant.
Squall's brain worked fast. He had been through this kind of situation before on class. He Knows that he needs to distract the monster long enough to have other people to rescue all the injured people out of the scene, then run for your life. But, in the small lobby you can't really run anywhere. He'll have to think of another way.
An idea flashed into his mind. What if he made the Behemoth tire or unconscious, just for a while and maybe the rescue team will show up eventually. It would be a miracle to make a creature that big to faint, but it was well worth a try.
But what will he use? His Gun Blade surly is good, but it's too weak to hurt a Behemoth. Squall asked Xu. "What weapon do you have?"
Xu appears to be confused. She shook her head suddenly as Squall asked her the question. "Um…I have a Cross Bow. Why?"
"One more question." Squall asked again. "What's the Behemoth's weakness, if you know?"
"Yeah." She said, with a semi-proud voice. "I you don't already know, I am a model student. Plus there are other thing I excel at, including dancing, hunting, Triple Quad…"
"Xu," Squall stopped her. "Please."
"Oh, Sorry…" Xu seems to be a little embarrassed. "It's, um…Thunder."
"If," Squall started. "My Gun Sends Electric through out the blade when I pull the trigger. Then, it should transfer the shock to your arrow when they come in contact. And then…you'll be able to shock the Behemoth."
Xu smiled a mysterious smile. "Cute and smart."
Squall dismissed that fairly quickly. He Xu ran back toward the crowd with their weapon in hand. Now, the crowd has stepped back a few paces to ensure their safety, but no one step up to help Zell. Secondly, the Behemoth has gathered some kind of barrier between it, Zell, the girls, and the huge crowd, Which is glowing blue.
When Squall and Xu got to the edge of the barrier, the barrier has already eaten away the floor. The ground inside the barrier is now just plain dirt. Zell, however, is seemed to be enjoying this whole thing. Dancing around the Behemoth is one way to see it.
The girls that are with Zell seams ok. All of them are still conscious. But, almost all of them are nursing small wounds. A quick look at Zell shows that he is beginning to tire out. His pace began to slow. He seems to be panting pretty fast. Squall and Xu would have to move fast.
"Let's charge it up!" Xu nervously called out.
"Right!" Squall said back, and took out his Gun Blade. At the same time, Xu took out her Cross Bow.
"Ready?" Xu asked.
Squall shook his head in approval. He took his Gun Blade and placed it very close to the arrow.
"Turn your head." Squall said. Xu did so. Squall looked away too. He pulled the trigger.
A sudden shock ran through the handle of the Gun Blade. Than, the Handle turned warm. This is normal, though, for Squall's Gun Blade.
When it stopped, Squall turned around. The arrow is glowing with blue energy.
"Wow." Xu said in amazement.
"Hurry!" Squall said urgently. "Shoot it! Or it'll blow!"
Xu took aim at the Behemoth, now is raged because it was not able to catch Zell. She let the arrow fly.
The arrow flew past the barrier without even slowing down, and struck itself straight into the flesh of the Behemoth. With a clash of Lightning, the Behemoth shrieked with pain as hundreds of volts of electric rushed through its body. Finally, after a violent jerk, the Behemoth finally fell to its stomach.
A great sigh came out of Squall. He put away his Gun Blade, and walked slowly toward Zell. Xu was already with her friends, helping them up. Zell was sitting on the ground. His whole face was so sweaty that it's like if he just came from a dive at the pool.
Squall held out a hand. "You alright?"
"I'm alright. You missed the fun!" Zell stood up.
"That's fun? What else do you do for fun?" Squall asked, having a little laughter.
The Garden's teachers finally showed up, with Sid, the Garden's headmaster in the lead.
"What happened here? Who's responsible?" Sid said just as he stopped running.
Sid is a pretty likable person. He's more like an uncle to anyone in the Garden than a headmaster. With a little reading glass, and a pocket watch, at first glance, you might call him old-fashioned. But, he is really into simulation, and space movies, to name a few.
"It was a little accident," Zell quickly started to explain. "That I stumbled onto Professor Norg's new pet. And it happened to chase me all around the Garden."
"And," Sid countered. "With this 'accident' include stumble into the underground basement, where students are not permitted?"
"Well, uh…yeah…I guess so…" Zell started to stutter.
"At least you're honest." Sid plainly said out.
Sid is known to do this. When ever you did some thing wrong and were caught by him. He would question you. If you say something he liked to hear, he would forgive you. If not, you are in bad luck.
"Come. You gotta go to the doctor." Sid said as some people, under Norg's surveillance, carried the Behemoth away. "You guys too, Squall, Xu."
Both of them obediently follow the girls and Zell to the Infirmary.
"Ouch! Watch it, man!"
Another yelp of complaint came from Zell inside the doctor's office. The doc has treated the girls, and now, Zell none-stop all afternoon. Squall is beginning to think of if the doc like his job a little too much. Yet, the doc kept on going with out stopping.
"Don't complain in front of the girls." Sid said, looking up from his magazine. "Even a cadet shouldn't be that sissy."
The girls let out a burst of giggles.
Squall, Xu, and Sid waited outside in the guestroom. Squall was standing in the corner. Xu was sitting on the chair a few feet from Squall, deep within thoughts. Sid was pretty calm; he's reading a Magazine called "Occult Fan Monthly", a magazine about rare phenomenon in the world.
A minute later, Zell came out with a heavily bandaged right arm.
"Ahh…" Zell exhaled. "A few days of relaxation."
"You're lucky that Xu stopped the Behemoth, or you'll have no arm left." Sid pointed out.
"No… it was Squall idea. He should get the credit." Xu said quietly
"Any ways, you both did a great job subduing that Behemoth." Sid Recited. He took out his notebook and wrote down something. "Let's see…Usually, I'd pay Norg 2000Gil to take care of the monsters…and, usually…he'll have about 2 break outs each month, and…that'll leave 1000Gil for one…add that…divided by that…and it will leave you and Xu split from 1500Gil… Is that enough?"
Xu eyes lit up, and she broke into a smile she hadn't had it the last hour.
"Well, when you guys are rested up, you can go back to your dorm. You are all excused from your classes today." Sid said as he got up. "I'll be in the office if you have any problems." And he left.
They stayed in the room until Zell and the girls are rested up, they left the Infirmary. Xu asked Zell and the girls to go on, and wanted Squall to stay behind.
Squall said goodbye to Zell. The moment he turned around, Xu embraced him with a hug.
Them held on to each other for some time. Squall was very stiff when she let go.
"Don't waste your money." Xu said. "You'll need it for our date." Then, she ran off toward the dorms.
----------------------------------
A few days have past. There is five days left until the Final Exam. The team has been made. The Zell asked the someone the day he is able to take off the bandages on his arm. Squall and Xu is a team, and they will join Zell's team the day of the exam.
All is well. They have no classes until the day before the exam. Right now, they are just enjoying the last days that they will be students. After the exam, and if they pass, they will become a full-fledge SeeD member. After that, he will be able to get revenge for his parents.
His date with Xu is today. He has been getting ready since he woke up at six in the morning. He has been getting help from Zell. They have been in the library all morning. Not to study. Zell recited every tip that he knows about dating. From how to open a door, to how to compliment the lady. Squall listened to all of the stuff he said. Until every detail is memorized, it's almost noon, the time of the date.
They are going to Balamb, just like in the letter Xu wrote. Xu said that she got the details, you just be yourself, and wear something causal. Squall didn't know what he got is causal. So he just went in a denim jacket and black khaki.
When he arrive at Xu's door, Squall was trembling from head to toe. But, he has to do this. He knocked on the door three times, and waited.
The door opened, and Xu stood there. She wasn't dressed that casual. She was in an elegant lavender color dress. Her features were, to squall, perfect.
"Hello." Squall said. "You look… bewitching today." This was a line Zell taught him.
"Thank you..." Xu said. Her face blushed to a shade of pink.
She stepped out of the doorway, and walked slowly toward the main hall. Squall followed beside her.
"So," Squall asked her. "What thing do you have planned for us today?"
"Well…" Xu stretched her word. "You'll see when we get there. But I'll bet you will love it."
"I'm loving it right now." Another line came to Squall's mind.
Xu blushed a bit. But she didn't say anything.
They walked together, and stopped at the main gate, where a car is waiting. At the Garden, you can rent a car for just 100Gil, pretty inexpensive for a student.
He opened the door for Xu. She smiled, and got in. Squall got into the driver's seat. Xu was looking at a little piece of paper. When She saw Squall get in, she quickly stuffed it into her purse.
Squall didn't ask what it is. He drove the car out the gate, and into the green meadow.
©( Copyright Omega 2000-2002. All text is the property of Authors Tao Li and Jeanie Owen. All rights reserved.
Wide eyed, Squall felt his face burning as he turned to look at the girl. She though, didn't look surprised, just nervous. She is pretty…well, pretty. She has black hair down to her shoulders; sharp, brown eyes; she has a silver necklace and a silver earring; she's wearing a pair of black shorts, and a white logo T.
Wow. That's all that Squall could think of at the moment.
"Hello!" Xu waved her hand in front of Squall's face, and said.
"Oh." Then he flashed back from being dazed a minute ago. "Hey." Squall said quietly.
Xu looked around, at Zell and the other girls. "Could we have a moment?" She asked them.
Zell waved his hand at Xu. "Sure. Go ahead. We are just about to take a walk… We'll, em… Come back a few minutes later. 'K?" Zell motioned the girls to go with him. All of the girls quickly gathered around Zell, and they left.
"Sit with me." The girl said, quite commandingly, directing Squall to a chair next to her.
"Sure." Squall mumbled, quickly sat down.
Xu turned her chair toward him, putting her hands on her lap, turned toward Squall and said, "I guess you got my mail?"
Squall nodding his head. "Yeah."
"So?"
Squall tried to make sound with his mouth, but nothing came out. He waited a few moments. "I just came down here to speak to Zell. And I didn't know you were here."
"Well, that didn't go right." She said, with a tilt of her head. "Pretend that I wasn't here. What were you saying to that…boy?"
"Well, you know, guys stuff…"
"Ohh… so… You were gotta talk about that letter in your hand?"
"Yeah…well…"
"So, yeah or no?" The girl asked again.
Again, Squall is Speechless. Yeah, Squall wants girl friend. But he's not in to the girlfriend - boyfriend thing. But still…
Squall opened his hand in front of her, and waved them sideways. "… Uh … sure. Why not?"
"Great!" Xu said, with a smile on her face. "Now we'll just wait for them to come back. I can't wait to tell them the news…"
Squall buried his face in his hand, and let out a great breath. His face is burning hot. He bets that Zell will immediately talking about wedding plans when he gets back.
They waited for a few minutes for them to come back, but they didn't. Great, he thought, maybe they forgot that we were here. Xu walked around the cafeteria to check if they came back. But, too, she came back pretty quickly.
She made a gesture with her hands, meaning that she didn't find anything, and sat back down next to him. "Where are they?" She said quietly with a little frustration in her voice.
The people are starting to leave to prepare for their afternoon classes. Soon, half the people in the cafeteria are gone. Squall is really getting tense now.
A sudden bang came from across the hall from where they are sitting. Everyone turned his or her heads to look. Some ran toward there. Some scream pierced the muttering voices, and even more people ran toward the scene. Xu stood up, and walked quickly with the crowd. She turned and shouted at Squall. "Com-on!" Yet, Squall stood up quickly, and too ran.
They followed the flow of the people until they stopped because they are blocked by a big crowd gathered around the elevator entrance. Squall heard some people screaming, again.
Squall and Xu tried to squeeze through the crowd, only to find that the crowd squeezed back at them. He felt Xu pulled on his sleeve. He turned and saw Xu pointed at the top of the stairs. He shook his head, and followed her to it.
Squall got to the top of the stairs a few seconds after Xu did. He saw Xu covered her mouth wide-eyed, looks as though she might faint any time now. He turned. And he was almost about to faint too.
Over the crowd, he saw the very unlikely thing. It was Zell. The other girls were in a bunch next to him. Several feet away, to the right of him, it was a Behemoth.
Strange creatures roam freely as they would on Squall's world. Most of them live in plains and forests, where they're not easily disturbed. But at Balamb Garden, the teachers bring in exotic, mostly very dangerous creatures to the training center in the Garden. Some classes, like Squall's battle class, takes place in the training center.
The Behemoth, how ever, was brought in a couple of weeks ago by Norg, the battle class professor. It was still a baby. It was two months old. But, no one is saying awws at the moment. Well, maybe awes of amazement. It was as big as an armored vehicle, with purple leather skin, two horns as long as Squalls Gun Blade. From one angle, it looks like a giant purple elephant.
Squall's brain worked fast. He had been through this kind of situation before on class. He Knows that he needs to distract the monster long enough to have other people to rescue all the injured people out of the scene, then run for your life. But, in the small lobby you can't really run anywhere. He'll have to think of another way.
An idea flashed into his mind. What if he made the Behemoth tire or unconscious, just for a while and maybe the rescue team will show up eventually. It would be a miracle to make a creature that big to faint, but it was well worth a try.
But what will he use? His Gun Blade surly is good, but it's too weak to hurt a Behemoth. Squall asked Xu. "What weapon do you have?"
Xu appears to be confused. She shook her head suddenly as Squall asked her the question. "Um…I have a Cross Bow. Why?"
"One more question." Squall asked again. "What's the Behemoth's weakness, if you know?"
"Yeah." She said, with a semi-proud voice. "I you don't already know, I am a model student. Plus there are other thing I excel at, including dancing, hunting, Triple Quad…"
"Xu," Squall stopped her. "Please."
"Oh, Sorry…" Xu seems to be a little embarrassed. "It's, um…Thunder."
"If," Squall started. "My Gun Sends Electric through out the blade when I pull the trigger. Then, it should transfer the shock to your arrow when they come in contact. And then…you'll be able to shock the Behemoth."
Xu smiled a mysterious smile. "Cute and smart."
Squall dismissed that fairly quickly. He Xu ran back toward the crowd with their weapon in hand. Now, the crowd has stepped back a few paces to ensure their safety, but no one step up to help Zell. Secondly, the Behemoth has gathered some kind of barrier between it, Zell, the girls, and the huge crowd, Which is glowing blue.
When Squall and Xu got to the edge of the barrier, the barrier has already eaten away the floor. The ground inside the barrier is now just plain dirt. Zell, however, is seemed to be enjoying this whole thing. Dancing around the Behemoth is one way to see it.
The girls that are with Zell seams ok. All of them are still conscious. But, almost all of them are nursing small wounds. A quick look at Zell shows that he is beginning to tire out. His pace began to slow. He seems to be panting pretty fast. Squall and Xu would have to move fast.
"Let's charge it up!" Xu nervously called out.
"Right!" Squall said back, and took out his Gun Blade. At the same time, Xu took out her Cross Bow.
"Ready?" Xu asked.
Squall shook his head in approval. He took his Gun Blade and placed it very close to the arrow.
"Turn your head." Squall said. Xu did so. Squall looked away too. He pulled the trigger.
A sudden shock ran through the handle of the Gun Blade. Than, the Handle turned warm. This is normal, though, for Squall's Gun Blade.
When it stopped, Squall turned around. The arrow is glowing with blue energy.
"Wow." Xu said in amazement.
"Hurry!" Squall said urgently. "Shoot it! Or it'll blow!"
Xu took aim at the Behemoth, now is raged because it was not able to catch Zell. She let the arrow fly.
The arrow flew past the barrier without even slowing down, and struck itself straight into the flesh of the Behemoth. With a clash of Lightning, the Behemoth shrieked with pain as hundreds of volts of electric rushed through its body. Finally, after a violent jerk, the Behemoth finally fell to its stomach.
A great sigh came out of Squall. He put away his Gun Blade, and walked slowly toward Zell. Xu was already with her friends, helping them up. Zell was sitting on the ground. His whole face was so sweaty that it's like if he just came from a dive at the pool.
Squall held out a hand. "You alright?"
"I'm alright. You missed the fun!" Zell stood up.
"That's fun? What else do you do for fun?" Squall asked, having a little laughter.
The Garden's teachers finally showed up, with Sid, the Garden's headmaster in the lead.
"What happened here? Who's responsible?" Sid said just as he stopped running.
Sid is a pretty likable person. He's more like an uncle to anyone in the Garden than a headmaster. With a little reading glass, and a pocket watch, at first glance, you might call him old-fashioned. But, he is really into simulation, and space movies, to name a few.
"It was a little accident," Zell quickly started to explain. "That I stumbled onto Professor Norg's new pet. And it happened to chase me all around the Garden."
"And," Sid countered. "With this 'accident' include stumble into the underground basement, where students are not permitted?"
"Well, uh…yeah…I guess so…" Zell started to stutter.
"At least you're honest." Sid plainly said out.
Sid is known to do this. When ever you did some thing wrong and were caught by him. He would question you. If you say something he liked to hear, he would forgive you. If not, you are in bad luck.
"Come. You gotta go to the doctor." Sid said as some people, under Norg's surveillance, carried the Behemoth away. "You guys too, Squall, Xu."
Both of them obediently follow the girls and Zell to the Infirmary.
"Ouch! Watch it, man!"
Another yelp of complaint came from Zell inside the doctor's office. The doc has treated the girls, and now, Zell none-stop all afternoon. Squall is beginning to think of if the doc like his job a little too much. Yet, the doc kept on going with out stopping.
"Don't complain in front of the girls." Sid said, looking up from his magazine. "Even a cadet shouldn't be that sissy."
The girls let out a burst of giggles.
Squall, Xu, and Sid waited outside in the guestroom. Squall was standing in the corner. Xu was sitting on the chair a few feet from Squall, deep within thoughts. Sid was pretty calm; he's reading a Magazine called "Occult Fan Monthly", a magazine about rare phenomenon in the world.
A minute later, Zell came out with a heavily bandaged right arm.
"Ahh…" Zell exhaled. "A few days of relaxation."
"You're lucky that Xu stopped the Behemoth, or you'll have no arm left." Sid pointed out.
"No… it was Squall idea. He should get the credit." Xu said quietly
"Any ways, you both did a great job subduing that Behemoth." Sid Recited. He took out his notebook and wrote down something. "Let's see…Usually, I'd pay Norg 2000Gil to take care of the monsters…and, usually…he'll have about 2 break outs each month, and…that'll leave 1000Gil for one…add that…divided by that…and it will leave you and Xu split from 1500Gil… Is that enough?"
Xu eyes lit up, and she broke into a smile she hadn't had it the last hour.
"Well, when you guys are rested up, you can go back to your dorm. You are all excused from your classes today." Sid said as he got up. "I'll be in the office if you have any problems." And he left.
They stayed in the room until Zell and the girls are rested up, they left the Infirmary. Xu asked Zell and the girls to go on, and wanted Squall to stay behind.
Squall said goodbye to Zell. The moment he turned around, Xu embraced him with a hug.
Them held on to each other for some time. Squall was very stiff when she let go.
"Don't waste your money." Xu said. "You'll need it for our date." Then, she ran off toward the dorms.
----------------------------------
A few days have past. There is five days left until the Final Exam. The team has been made. The Zell asked the someone the day he is able to take off the bandages on his arm. Squall and Xu is a team, and they will join Zell's team the day of the exam.
All is well. They have no classes until the day before the exam. Right now, they are just enjoying the last days that they will be students. After the exam, and if they pass, they will become a full-fledge SeeD member. After that, he will be able to get revenge for his parents.
His date with Xu is today. He has been getting ready since he woke up at six in the morning. He has been getting help from Zell. They have been in the library all morning. Not to study. Zell recited every tip that he knows about dating. From how to open a door, to how to compliment the lady. Squall listened to all of the stuff he said. Until every detail is memorized, it's almost noon, the time of the date.
They are going to Balamb, just like in the letter Xu wrote. Xu said that she got the details, you just be yourself, and wear something causal. Squall didn't know what he got is causal. So he just went in a denim jacket and black khaki.
When he arrive at Xu's door, Squall was trembling from head to toe. But, he has to do this. He knocked on the door three times, and waited.
The door opened, and Xu stood there. She wasn't dressed that casual. She was in an elegant lavender color dress. Her features were, to squall, perfect.
"Hello." Squall said. "You look… bewitching today." This was a line Zell taught him.
"Thank you..." Xu said. Her face blushed to a shade of pink.
She stepped out of the doorway, and walked slowly toward the main hall. Squall followed beside her.
"So," Squall asked her. "What thing do you have planned for us today?"
"Well…" Xu stretched her word. "You'll see when we get there. But I'll bet you will love it."
"I'm loving it right now." Another line came to Squall's mind.
Xu blushed a bit. But she didn't say anything.
They walked together, and stopped at the main gate, where a car is waiting. At the Garden, you can rent a car for just 100Gil, pretty inexpensive for a student.
He opened the door for Xu. She smiled, and got in. Squall got into the driver's seat. Xu was looking at a little piece of paper. When She saw Squall get in, she quickly stuffed it into her purse.
Squall didn't ask what it is. He drove the car out the gate, and into the green meadow.
©( Copyright Omega 2000-2002. All text is the property of Authors Tao Li and Jeanie Owen. All rights reserved.