Original characters, world and backstory belong to Squaresoft, lucky folks.

OK, you probably know the drill by now. If you want the full NC-17 version with all the smut the author intended, it's on my website, www.scribblemoose.co.uk The version below has been censored in line with ffnet policy because I'm a scaredy cat ^_^

Thanks again to Megan for beta-ing, and to Ste for combat advice.

Still welcoming the feedback, by the way, here or by e-mail (fanfic@scribblemoose.co.uk)

************************************************************

Chapter 32 - Promise

Selphie cast a last astonished look at Seifer laying on the gravel drive before she ran after Squall, as fast as she could.

Irvine gave Rinoa a grim look. "We'd better go too," he said. "There's no telling what he'll say to her in this kind of mood." Rinoa nodded. He turned to Frila. "I'll catch you later," he said. "You report to Quisty and Laguna, eh?"

"No problem," she said, still staring at Seifer, who had pulled himself to his feet, cursing under his breath. "What about…"

But Irvine had already gone.

* * * * * * *

"If you're going to tell me to go easy on her, don't waste your breath."

Irvine hadn't seen Squall this angry for a long time. He cast a warning look at Selphie, but she didn't notice. Or ignored him.

"Squall, let me talk to her first," she said. "It's not her fault."

Squall glared at Selphie from behind his desk. "How in gods' name do you work that one out? How can it possibly not be her fault?"

"I've been thinking," said Selphie, talking fast, knowing she didn't have long to get her point across. "It must have been Bane, who made her do it."

"What the fuck would Bane care what we remembered? Selphie, I'm sorry, I know how you feel about Xu, but…"

"Please Squall, just let her explain," pleaded Selphie. "I'm sure she'll be able to explain!"

"I don't trust her," said Squall. "She's lied to me and held back so much, fuck, she's been lying to all of us for two whole years!"

"Exactly!" said Selphie, triumphantly. "Xu wouldn't do that, would she? She went through Ultimecia with us and everything, she wouldn't…"

She looked around at Irvine and Rinoa for support, but they both looked less than convinced.

"She didn't have Bane then," said Rinoa. "She got Bane with the first batch of crystals, right?"

"So she said," said Squall. "I'm sorry, but I don't trust her anymore."

"Squall, how could you?!" yelled Selphie. "After all Xu's done for you over the years…"

Irvine interrupted her before she could get into full flow. "All Selphie means is there might be a better way," he said. He looked Squall straight in the eyes. "Sometimes confrontation isn't the best route to the truth." Considering the ice in Squall's gaze, Irvine wondered for moment if he was about to suffer the same fate as Seifer. "You know I'm right," he said, anyway.

He kept eye contact, willing Squall to see reason. He knew he couldn't convince him to trust Xu again so quickly, but he hoped that putting it as a strategic option might make some sort of an impact.

Squall's shoulders slumped.

"Alright," he said. "You can ask the questions first. But…"

They were interrupted by the entry buzzer; the door opened straight away and Quistis came in, herding a tired and pale-looking Xu in front of her.

Irvine knew he'd always remember this moment, the moment Selphie was reunited with Xu. She turned from Squall towards the door, and her expression changed, softened; despite the doubts he knew she shared with them, deep down, he saw nothing in her eyes but love and compassion.

She let out a soft cry and launched herself across the room and into Xu's arms; Xu's eyes closed and the tears spilled from between her thick lashes to soak into Selphie's hair.

Irvine felt a hand in his, Rinoa's. She squeezed, and he squeezed back.

Squall turned away, walking to the window.

"Let's go next door for a minute," whispered Rinoa. Irvine nodded, and they were about to do just that when Quistis' phone rang.

"Laguna? Hi, I… what? … How many?!… Yes, we'll be right down." She snapped her phone shut. "Squall, the Dia are back on Balamb beach. More than last night… a lot more. Laguna's sent Zell down with a patrol, but he thought…"

Squall spun round; the news obviously hadn't improved his temper any. "He thought right. It's time I took a look at those bastards for myself. Irvine, Rin, you're with me. Selphie…" she looked over her shoulder at him, clearly not planning on letting Xu go anytime soon. "You talk to Xu. You know what we need. Xu, if you're not straight with us this time you can go join Almasy out there in the land of pain, and I don't care how much I used to respect you. Quistis…"

She looked up at him, expecting the command to go to the ops room and wait.

"I want you with me. Call Laguna and tell him we're going, he's in charge 'til we get back. And tell him to find Frila and send her down to meet us at the front gate, with Oceanus."

Quistis suppressed an urge to squeal in delight, and started punching her speed-dial.

"Squall," said Irvine, "Frila's had hardly any field experience and…"

Squall flashed steel-grey eyes at him through his dark bangs. "Don't think with your dick, Kinneas," he said. "She's more than capable, and Oceanus wants in on this. That's good enough for me."

Irvine stifled a retort, staring at the floor between his feet and biting his lip with the effort, knowing Squall was right, and that he didn't want him to be.

"She'll be alright," said Rinoa in a soft voice as they followed Squall from his office. "I'll keep an eye on her."

The door shut behind them, leaving Selphie and Xu alone.

* * * * * * *

Frila was tired.

She hadn't had a great deal of sleep the last few nights, and was about to take herself off to her long-neglected room for a shower and a nap when Laguna got Quistis' call.

"Sorry," he said. "Looks like you're on Squall's team to go chop tentacles."

"Tentacles?" she said, weakly. She wasn't sure she had enough energy to chop an onion, never mind a tentacle.

~We must go. All will be well, Child. I will care for you.~

~Thanks.~

"Sounds as if Oceanus is enthusiastic, anyway," she told Laguna.

"You'll be okay, kid. Believe me, once you join in the fight you'll forget how tired you are."

"I guess." She unzipped her kit bag, taking out a box of cartridges for her gunblade, a bottle of water, a sweater.

"The best thing seems to be to go for the eyes," he advised her. "And use lots of magic. Fire and thunder. Can your Guardian help you out there?"

She shook her head. "No, I'm an ice and water kinda girl at the moment."

"Well, they'll sort you out. It'll probably all be over by the time you get there, anyhow. Zell took care of them pretty good last night."

She took a long drink of water. "Have they done a lot of attacking here since we went away?" she asked, screwing the cap back on the bottle.

"Last three nights, yeah. And Trabia, but not Galbadia, yet. There aren't any caves near to Garden there, so we think that's what's stopping them. We were hoping Galbadia could move here to help out, but Martine's being stubborn as hell, so…"

"Oh."

"It's nothing we can't handle, I don't think. Gunblades are good. They don't like gunblades, seem to be frightened of sharp pointy things."

That notion felt good, she realised. She'd never really thought of herself as threatening before.

"What about Seifer?" she said. "He's a gunblader, isn't he? Is he coming with us?"

Laguna smiled at her. "I don't think that would be a good idea," he said. "Squall might just get distracted and chop him into tiny pieces rather than the Dia."

Her eyes went wide. "Really?"

He laughed. "No, kid, I don't think… oh look, here they come. Good luck, stab a few for me."

She grinned at him and saluted, wondering how such a friendly and easy to talk to person could possibly have raised a son as taciturn and scary as Squall.

But he didn't raise him. Any more than she raised me.

She shook her head, chasing the thoughts away, and set about braiding her hair as the others approached. Irvine gave her a huge smile; she smiled back, thinking vaguely that this wasn't a good time to be going weak at the knees.

Squall led them out to the waiting jeeps, and she climbed in next to Rinoa. It felt unreal, dreamlike after a day of waiting around, the hours spent drawing in the flower meadow at Winhill, making love with Irvine, the dinner at Ellone's Inn that felt almost like family. Less than ten minutes ago she'd been looking forward to the closest to a quiet night in that she could expect, and now…

~Be still, Child. I will protect you.~

She looked up at the stars, and let Oceanus' voice soothe her fears away.

* * * * * * *

"Shhh, sweetheart. I'm home. Everything's going to be alright. Shhh…"

"Oh gods, Selphie, I never thought I was going to see you again… I couldn't bear it. I missed you so much, I thought… I thought…"

"It's okay. I'm here. I told you I'd come back, didn't I?"

Xu gave a little laugh through her tears. "Next time don't cut it so fine, okay?" she wound Selphie's hair around her fingers, gazing at it as if it were the most amazing stuff she'd ever seen.

Selphie hugged her close, stroking her back and melting into the warmth of her body.

"What did Squall want?" asked Xu. "He looked so mad…"

"Oh, Xu. This is going to be hard, sweetheart. I'm sorry."

"Why?" Xu pulled back a little. "What's wrong?"

Selphie searched Xu's deep brown eyes, looking for the faintest hint of betrayal, of deception, any sign she might have missed. All she saw was love, and deep, deep inside her, fear. Fear?

"They told me about Bane and Chet, and you."

Xu looked away. "I thought they would," she said. "I wouldn't have sent you, if it had let me… I tried so hard… I wanted to tell you, I really did, but it hurt so much… you understand, don't you? If you've… had it in your head, you…"

"Yes," said Selphie. "It's not that." Her voiced dipped low and quiet. "There was something else you didn't tell us, sweetheart, wasn't there? Something you've hidden for a long time."

The fear in Xu's eyes intensified. "What do you mean?"

Selphie gently brushed the hair back from Xu's tearstained face, stroking her cheek with her thumb. "Chet gave me my memory back," she said softly. "And I told the others. We went to Ellone and they went back to check. I know what you did, my love."

"Oh gods," breathed Xu, all the colour draining from her face. "You know… how…"

"The latest time Ellone could send us in that timeline was when you changed things," explained Selphie. "That is what you did, wasn't it?" Xu nodded, unable to meet Selphie's eye. "Why, my love? Why did you do it?" She tried to move away, but Selphie wouldn't let her, pulling her straight back, kissing her briefly on the lips.

"I wanted to make it all better," she whispered. "Everyone was hurting so, so badly. Squall, Rinoa, Irvine, even Quistis and Zell, and you…" Fresh tears sprang to her eyes. "You were so unhappy, you were drunk all the time and you put in to transfer back to Trabia, and I couldn't… I couldn't let you go… I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. But I love you, I didn't think it would matter…"

Selphie breathed out a long breath. "You must have guessed we'd find out one day," she said. "What did you think…"

"I wasn't thinking," said Xu, wiping the tears away with the back of her hand. "It wasn't my idea, at first. It was Bane. It promised me no-one would ever find out, that we could put things in place to stop things repeating… that's what happens, you see, if you try and change things, it just happens the way it was supposed to, in a roundabout way, if it's important… that's why…"

"Rinoa and Squall got together at last," said Selphie. "And Irvine and Rinoa…"

"The memories must have come back at some point, I think it was when you got the crystals from that factory. Something stirred up the old feelings, and it all started to unravel. Then when Squall lost his mind block… I could see it happening…"

"You should have told us," Selphie chided.

"I couldn't. First there was Bane, and then… I was frightened, if you knew, that you'd be angry, and you wouldn't want me. Oh gods, Selphie, I've been frightened of so much for so long…"

There was a long pause; Xu stared at the carpeted floor of Squall's office, fighting back the tears.

"Do you?" she asked eventually. "Want me?"

Selphie cupped Xu's face in her hands and kissed her tenderly. "Yes," she whispered. "More than ever."

Xu relaxed into her arms. "I don't deserve this. I don't deserve you."

"Shhh," soothed Selphie. "You thought you were doing the right thing, but… Xu, I think it's better to do things the other way. You can't just wipe the hurt away. It's horrible but… it felt so wrong. It's not for us to decide what can and can't happen. We just have to live with it."

"I know."

They stood there for a moment, clinging to each other. Selphie felt relief wash over her, that Xu hadn't tried to lie her way out of it, that she really seemed to understand. She'd been so frightened that Chet had been right, that Xu had betrayed her, that Bane…

Bane.

"Xu…."

"Hmm?"

"When did you pick up Bane, sweetheart?"

"What?"

"Bane. Squall said you drew it from a crystal. When did you…"

She felt Xu stiffen a little in her arms. "I didn't," she said. "Bane… the echo… it's what it wanted me to say and I forgot… oh no! Shit, he's never going to trust me. I didn't want to lie, but he was so angry and…"

"Woah, slow down a bit. Who was angry?"

"Squall… it was part of the mind block, it made me… I couldn't tell him when, or how I found the crystal Bane was in." She took a deep breath. "And when Irvine took the mind block away," she shuddered at the memory, and it brought back Selphie's own experience in a rush: Ether overwhelming her brain and feeling so alien, all over her mind… she dragged her thoughts back to the present with a shiver of her own. "I was just worried about you," Xu was saying. "All I wanted was to tell them what they needed to know to help you. I just… forgot. Not Bane forgetting, I mean… I actually forgot!"

"Squall will understand, Xu," said Selphie firmly. "I don't know what happened while I was away, but my guess is he's just in complete leader mode because of this war. He'll calm down, you'll see. We'll make him calm down. Now. Tell me. How did you find Bane, really? What did it make you do?"

"I found it in the cave, at Balamb," said Xu. "The day we got back from FH after we picked you up from Ultimecia's Castle. We knew there would be lots of people wanting to become SeeDs, and we were looking for new Guardians. It was in a crystal, I didn't lie about that part. When it suggested I change the past… I regretted it, after a while. It felt wrong, but I didn't know how to put it right. And it was always suggesting things, nothing too bad, but I could feel it all the time, whispering to me… so I just stopped junctioning it. I didn't dare tell anyone about it… well, I see now it was the mind block, but at the time I thought I wanted to keep it all secret because of what I'd done. The next time I junctioned Bane was when Edea sent the crystals, and I realised it was the same kind of crystal as the cave… the rest was just as I told Squall and Rin, I told Chet about it and he drew it from me… I really didn't mean to do anything wrong, Selphie, please believe me!"

"Of course I believe you," said Selphie. "I've had that thing in my brain, remember? I know what it can do. I'll explain to Squall. Look, why don't we go back to my quarters?" She smoothed Xu's hair from her face, kissed her reddened nose softly. "We'll eat ice cream, and start to put this behind us. Okay?"

Xu looked at her as if she could hardly believe her ears.

"Really?"

"I love you," said Selphie. "That means something, you know. You made a mistake, that's all."

"Oh," said Xu, the sound catching in her throat. "Selphie, you're so… I don't deserve you, I…"

"Of course you do. Don't get all Squally on me, eh? Just promise me, no more secrets, eh?"

"I promise," said Xu, "believe me, I don't… oh."

"What's up?"

"Well, seeing as we're starting afresh," she said, "there's one more thing you need to know."

* * * * * * *

Squall leapt from the jeep as soon as he saw Zell, not waiting for Quistis to stop. He grimaced at the shock of his feet hitting the ground, forcing himself to keep moving.

"How's it going?"

"Bad," said Zell. "There's a lot of them, and they're not coming out of the cave. It looks like they're coming out of the sea."

"What?! But Cid said they didn't swim, or…"

"I don't think they're swimming, exactly. We can't get close enough to be sure, but it looks as if there's some kind of tunnel that emerges just beyond the shoreline. We've got through something like forty so far, but the last estimate was that there were a hundred, maybe two hundred of them. And they're still coming"

"That's not a skirmish," said Squall, under his breath, "that's a fucking invasion."

"Yeah," said Zell. "What do you want me to do? This is your command now, I…"

"No," said Squall. "You're doing a good job. Just keep hacking away, and make sure nothing gets close to Garden. We'll work our way back and see if we can seal off the tunnel or whatever they're using, then you can direct squads one and two to attack from behind. Okay?"

Zell nodded. "Thanks Squall."

"Thanks? What ever for?"

"You've never… for telling me I'm doing a good job. It helps."

Squall forced himself to smile, although his heart sank. Am I really that heartless? Do people really believe I think so little of them?

"No problem," he said. "Good luck." I'm proud of you, I'm proud of all of you, that I can just give you an order and know it'll happen. You're the best in the world, and I'm lucky to count you as my friend.

Squall ran back to the jeep and shared the plan with the others.

"Are they the same ones we saw near FH?" asked Irvine, snapping the safety off his rifle.

"Looks like it," said Squall. "Selphie was right, we should've blown them up while we had the chance."

"It probably wouldn't've worked," said Rinoa. "They seem pretty resistant to anything non-magical." She gestured towards the faint pink glow from the direction of the main battle. "Does that remind you of anything, by the way?"

"Xu," said Irvine. "When she was doing that… whatever it was, to change our memories."

"It was like that in the lab, too," said Rinoa, "when Selphie was… lost. I think it could be the crystals."

"You could be right. Just be careful, everyone," said Squall, "and stick together. All clear what you should be doing? Good. Off we go. Quistis, Frila, you're with me. Rin, Irvine, from the back. Fire and thunder magic, lots of it, let's just burn our way through 'til we find out where these bastards are coming from."

Frila obediently ran thunder magic through her gunblade, adrenaline flooding her body and proving Laguna completely right: any thoughts of tiredness had completely gone. Oceanus was filling her mind, strengthening and guiding her, giving her a confidence she'd never had before. She could hardly wait to get started.

Which was just as well, because Squall was clearly in a hurry.

He led them at a run past the first wave of Dians, moving round the edge of the team of SeeDs already engaged with them. They were much bigger than Frila had expected; fully ten foot across with tentacles ranging for another fifteen or so feet. They were an obscenely cheerful bubblegum shade of pink, and some of them were glowing, giving off the soft light that they'd noticed earlier. No wonder they'd been able to spot them from the Ragnarok; camouflage clearly wasn't their strong point, unless they were planning to hide in a lake of strawberry milkshake.

The second row weren't going to let them past without a fight, but they were only too happy to oblige, and between the five of them made short work of it. The Dians' eyes were huge and black, which made them all too vulnerable a weak spot; Squall plunged Lionheart's blue flame into the first two without even breaking his stride, and they fell before he'd even located his next target. Encouraged by Oceanus' battle cry in her head, Frila followed his example, stabbing at the next dark target she came across with a furious roar.

"She's getting into the spirit of things," Rinoa observed to Irvine as she gathered her power for a spell.

"That's my girl," said Irvine, proudly. "Shit, they don't mind bullets much. Give us some more fire magic, Rin?"

"Just a sec." Rinoa closed her eyes, and a wave of flame shot out as if from an invisible flame thrower, wiping out half a dozen Dian's at one go, leaving a sticky, gloopy mess where they had been. With a grin of satisfaction she put her hand to the back of Irvine's head and he felt a tingle as she filled him with magic.

"Thanks," he said, doing his best to dismiss another kind of tingle that the touch of her fingers to his hair had caused.

Rinoa's magic always made him horny.

Frila had found the rhythm and savagery to her strokes that Irvine had last seen on that very same beach the day she'd drawn Oceanus. She was killing one to every two that Squall managed, not bad odds for a beginner, Irvine thought, concentrating on the familiar view down the sights of his rifle to pick an eye to shoot with his newly-enflamed attack.

Another sheet of flame rippled across the heads of the Dians in front of them; a smell like burnt rubber drifted towards them.

Irvine just kept on firing. It seemed easy, ploughing through enemies together, using the power that they wore like an old sweater, taken completely for granted but oh, so comforting when it was needed. Squall's fighting style was as fluid and beautiful to watch as ever; lit by the fireworks of Rinoa's magic, punctuated by the shot of Irvine's gun and the crack of Quistis' whip. Just like old times. They cut their way through fifty Dians faster than two squads of ordinary SeeDs managed to defeat ten.

They'd just caught their first sight of the tunnel, when the music started.

* * * * * * *

"I wonder if I ought to go and help?" Selphie scraped the last of the ice cream from the bottom of the carton.

"You're not back up to full strength yet," said Xu, putting a protective arm around her shoulder. "Squall or Quistis will let you know if you're needed."

"I guess."

"Are you that anxious to get away from me?" said Xu in a small voice. "I wouldn't blame you if you were."

Sephie prodded her in the ribs with her cold spoon. "Don't be stupid," she said. "I don't want to leave you again, ever. Not even for ten minutes. Otherwise I'd have gone to find some more ice cream by now. You know, the Estharians just don't do good ice cream. Not even for invalids."

"No, it takes hedonists like the Galbadians to do that," said Xu with a snort.

Sephie dropped the empty carton on the floor and leaned back against the headboard of the bed, shoving a pillow into the small of her back. "If they had any sense they'd have taken you with them."

"Squall can't trust me. I understand that, I'd be the same in his position."

"Hn. You're as stubborn as each other, that's for sure." Selphie reached out and ran one fingertip over Xu's faintly chilled lips. "And you're both devastatingly beautiful, now I come to think of it. All dark hair and cheekbones…"

"I don't think I'll ever make it to Squall's league in the looks department," said Xu, suddenly fascinated by the pattern on the bedspread. "Although you're right about being stubborn."

Selphie stroked Xu's dark hair back from her shoulders, continuing the sweep down her spine.

"Oh…" Xu's eyes shuttered closed, and she arched slightly under Selphie's touch.

Selphie planted a kiss on her exposed throat, another on the bare flesh just below her collarbone. She started to undo the buttons of Xu's shirt with one hand, pulling her closer with the other.

"Selphie, are you sure? … I'd understand, if you wanted to take things slowly, after…"

"I'm sure."

More than sure. I have to do this. I have to…

"If you change your mind, Selph, just say. Did he hurt you?"

I have to make new memories.

"No. Yes. It doesn't matter anymore. I don't want to think about it." Selphie pressed her lips to Xu's, relaxing into the warmth of her body, cupping one breast in her hand, comforting, exciting, familiar."

He won't know this. This will be mine, and Xu's, and no-one elses. I can start again. He won't know.

Xu pulled back, gave her a little smile. Selphie surveyed her lover's face, taking in the smudge of exhaustion under her eyes, the pale, dead look to her skin, belied by the healthy redness of her faintly swollen lips. She raised her arms so Xu could pull her T-shirt off, enjoying the warm air on her breasts and stiffening nipples.

"Oh, Selphie!" Xu's finger came to rest on Selphie's chest. "Oh, Selphie, I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry…"

It took a moment for Selphie to realise what had caused Xu's sudden distress. She followed Xu's eyes to her skin, and understood. She was caressing the faint scar the crystal had left, just above her heart. It had stopped hurting a while back, and the mark was much smaller than it used to be, no bigger than a strawberry. The doctors at Esthar had warned her that it would probably never fade completely.

But of course, Xu knew what it was, and how it had been made. She knew what it meant, what Chet had done to her. She ran her fingers over the faintly puckered skin, her shoulders heaving with sobs.

"No," said Selphie. "No more crying. You don't have to cry, Xu, it's over."

"But…"

"No!" she repeated, with unusual steel in her voice. "I mean it. This is a new start, for both of us, and I won't let you torture yourself for the past. It's done, and over, and it wasn't your fault. You only did what you thought was right, all along. Listen to me." She cupped Xu's chin in one hand, tilting her face up to look at her. "You did everything you could. It's not your fault, and it's over. Understand?"

Xu hesitated for an instant, then nodded, mutely.

"Good," said Selphie. "Now, no more tears," she fished a tissue out from under the pillow and dried Xu's damp cheeks. "We start again, from here. Okay?"

"Yes," whispered Xu. "I promise."

And he'll never know. This is mine. Just mine. He can't touch it.

* * * * * * *

Frila looked around her for an instant, frowning. Something wasn't right.

~Oceanus? What's happening?~

But her Guardian didn't answer; it just kept up an almost deafening noise in her ears, the sound of waves washing over pebbles, loud, rhythmic and slow. She couldn't hear anything else, it was dominating her mind, yet strangely calming.

~Shiva~

She couldn't reach Shiva at all; with a sudden bolt of fear Frila realised her other Guardian had fallen from junction, unconscious. She stole a glance at Squall as she pulled her gunblade back from her latest attack; she could tell from the expression on his face that there was something wrong. Had he lost his Guardians, too?

It was all she could do to stop herself from looking back to see if Irvine was alright. She knew she had to stay focused, she couldn't afford to take her eyes off the tentacles that were threatening to grab and suffocate the life out of her.

The tunnel was just ahead: their objective.

Squall looked uncertain, confused.

There was another sound, now, as well as Oceanus, but she couldn't quite make it out. Every time she tried to listen to it, the sound of the ocean swelled in her ears.

Music. It was music. The crystals… She shut the noise out, concentrating instead on Oceanus' sea song.

She slashed another Dian eye, flinching from a stream of liquid that disgorged itself from some other, nameless part of the creature's body. That happened with the pink glowy ones, she'd noticed, and this close to the tunnel they were nearly all pink glowy ones.

A rubbery tentacle lashed out to lather her in unspeakable goo; she blocked it with her left forearm and grabbed the tip. They were strong, she'd discovered, but none too fast, and if she did this she could keep it from doing any more damage with its appendages before she or Squall got it in the eye.

Squall wasn't even watching anymore; he seemed to have gone into some kind of trance. She felt panic race through her body like dust on a desert wind.

~Fuck. Now what?~

The tentacle started to thrash in her hand; irritated, she swung her blade and sliced it from its owner's body, immediately regretting such a rash action as she was drenched from head to foot in spurting blood.

She spluttered through the pinkish cascade, looking blankly at the rubbery limb in her gloved hand. There was something hard, just under the surface.

Squall seemed to have recovered himself, thank gods, and was shouting at her; but she still couldn't hear anything for Oceanus. Fortunately Squall always signalled with fingers as well as voice in battle; she couldn't get all of his signs, but she understood the basics. Pull back. Regroup. Head for the surf near the tunnel.

Frila shook the blood-drenched hair out of her eyes, wiping the worst of it from her face. She was about to drop the remains of her last enemy when it finally dawned on her what it was she could feel under its squidgy skin. It was still glowing faintly, even in death, and she could see why. There, under the now-limp sucker at the tip, was a crystal.

She chopped the tip from the rest and stuffed it in her belt; grabbed the next pink limb that was thrown her way and checked. The same.

"Squall!" she yelled, chasing after him as they fled towards the tunnel. "Squall, these things don't just use crystals! They are fucking crystals?"

He stopped in his tracks, signalling the others to run past him while he waited for her to catch up. They were all moving too slowly, she realised, a fraction of their normal speed. All the Guardians must be down, except for Oceanus.

"What?" he asked; she still couldn't hear him but at least he was close enough that she could lip read.

"The Dians, they have crystals in their bodies! They're made of … here." She thrust the gooey flesh she'd harvested at him, the crystal now clearly visible inside, its glow slowly fading.

Squall turned and grabbed another flailing tentacle, struggling, surprisingly, to hold it still, until Frila chopped it off for him. He managed to jump out of the way of the fountain of blood, searching for similar bounty, but there was nothing there.

"It's the glowy ones!" yelled Frila. "That's why they're…"

But Squall had already turned to bark an order to Rinoa, who looked a little startled for a moment, but soon settled to concentrate, an expression of calm determination on her face that Frila had learned meant she was gathering her magic.

A sheet of flame shot from her fingers, and another, and a third; Frila started to choke from the fumes as the creatures in front of her dissolved to a mass of goo and noxious smoke in front of her eyes. Squall grabbed her hand and pulled her back to join the others.

She stood, stunned, as Rinoa sent out fire again and again, until eventually she collapsed to her knees, eyes squeezed shut and breathing hard. Squall and Irvine were with her in an instant, one each side of her, helping her to her feet, checking she was okay.

"Are you alright?" Quistis asked Frila with a touch to her arm.

She turned to Quistis gratefully. "Yes, thanks, I'm fine, I…" ~I can hear again. Oceanus?~

~You are safe. I protected you.~

~Is that what all the noise was about? Thank you. What…~

She realised Quistis was waiting for her to finish her sentence.

"… I'm fine," she said, with a grin. "Is Rinoa…"

"All that was from her own magic," Quistis explained. "It takes a lot out of her, but she'll be okay. It seems to have done the trick, the music stopped."

Frila surveyed the seething mass of pink gunge in front of them where the Dia had been. Looking back towards Garden she could see Zell's squads still fighting; with everything she'd had, Rinoa had only managed to take out about a quarter of them. But it looked as if it was the quarter that mattered, at least for now.

The tide was going out fast, and she could see the tunnel clearly, a faint pink glow just visible in its depths. More of them. And the dangerous kind.

"I'm sorry, Squall, " Rinoa was saying, still finding it hard to catch her breath. "I don't have enough power left. It'll take an hour, at least. I'm sorry."

"It's okay," said Squall kindly, although the irritation was clear on his face. "Irvine, run back and get someone with a Guardian, something that can make a big explosion…"

"I can," said Frila. "Oceanus is right here, as always." She tapped the side of her head.

The others stared at her for a moment, caught between relief and disbelief.

"The tunnel," Squall said. "We need to blow up the entrance, stop them coming through. Can you do it? If not give me Oceanus now."

"I can do it," she said, firmly. ~Can we?~ she checked, as an afterthought.

~We can. Summon me, and I will seal the tunnel.~

"Now?" she checked with Squall.

"Yes! Do it!" he yelled.

"Oceanus!" she roared. It wasn't technically necessary to be all dramatic about it, she knew, but it felt good.

She'd forgotten how big it was.

Oceanus flowed from the sand just in front of her, a water dragon twice the size of Leviathan. It reared up on its hindquarters Guardian rampant, she thought, for some reason, and then poured itself down the beach towards the sea. At first it looked as though it might flow softly into the quiet ocean and melt away, but as it approached the tunnel it formed a wave five, ten, twenty feet high, thirty feet, a wall of rushing water that dashed at the shadowy entrance, flooding it, crumbling the rocky walls and washing the foundations away to sand.

Frila watched in awe as the tide receded and Oceanus flowed on.

The entrance to the tunnel was gone, the first twenty feet or so swept away, the rest blocked with rubble.

She saw the wave of Oceanus' triumph returning, and yelled a warning to the others, but it was too late. Sea water crashed over her, cleansing her of blood and gore even as it knocked her off her feet.

She opened stinging eyes to see the others similarly drenched. "Sorry!" she yelled. "Are you okay?"

"I'm getting used to it," said Squall wryly, pulling a bit of seaweed from behind his ear.

"Bracing," spluttered Irvine. "Next time, could you ask it not to do that, Hotshot? It takes forever to get the salt out of my rifle, if you know what I mean."

His hair had come loose and spilled dripping down his back and in his eyes; his soaked T-shirt clung to his well defined muscles, and he winked at her.

"Well done, Cadet," said Quistis, offering a hand to help Frila to her feet. "You've saved yourself a few hours off your field exam there, I'd say."

Frila grinned, shaking the water out of her ears and trying to suppress a desire to punch the air in triumph, throw Irvine down on the sand in front of her and fuck his brains out. "Thanks," she said. Exams seemed a long way off, but she appreciated that Quistis was paying her a compliment, and that was a whole new experience.

Rinoa gave her a hug, which was also something of a novelty, and told her she'd saved the day.

Squall was looking at the slab of tentacle Frila had given him as if it was the best birthday present he'd ever had.

"At last," he murmured. "Something I can work with."

Oceanus settled back into Frila's mind, feeling more content that it ever had before. She got the sense that it had been an important victory, and not just for them.

It hadn't been an easy one, however.

They picked their way back to the front line over the mess of Dian bodies, at what felt like an excruciatingly slow pace to Frila; the others' Guardians were still obviously knocked out and the exhaustion of the past few days was clearly catching up with Irvine and Squall.

Then, there were other bodies.

People.

Frila tried not to look, but it was unavoidable. She'd not thought there would be so many casualties, and for the first time she really understood why Squall had been so impatient to get back from Esthar, why it mattered so much that he solve the riddle of the crystals. Without Guardians and magic the Dians weren't just disgusting monsters to be cut through like undergrowth in the forest, they were deadly. Strong tentacles could dash bodies to the ground with all the force of a wrecking ball, or pluck fragile prey to feast on.

"You okay, Hotshot?"

She looked at Irvine's pale, tired face, and nodded. "Had to see it sometime," she said.

Now wasn't the time to explain that this wasn't the first time she'd seen dead bodies after a battle. That was something she never intended to talk about, to anyone. Even him.

She saw a group of SeeDs struggling with the last dozen or so Dians; Zell was among them.

"Squall, can I help?" she said, her voice more serious than Squall had ever heard her.

"Of course," he said.

She charged across the sand and bodies with a battle cry, her gunblade glowing with Oceanus' magic and energy, and, at least to Rinoa's eye, a little something of its own.

"You were right," said Quistis to Squall. "You were absolutely right to keep her on. She's got something special. I haven't seen a raw cadet with that kind of power since… for a long time."

"You mean since Seifer," said Squall, irritably. "It's alright to say it, Quis."

Quistis laughed. "Actually, I was going to say since you," she said. "I just thought you might not appreciate me comparing you with a raw cadet."

"Oh," said Squall, confused. "Was I better or worse than Seifer was at that age?"

Quistis laughed again. "You never change," she said.

"It's good to hear you laugh, Quisty," murmured Irvine.

Her eyes darted to him for a moment, surprised, and she smiled, pleased, if a little uncertain.

They were nearly back at the jeep. "Speak of the devil," said Rinoa.

The medical division were hard at work getting the injured ready to take back to Garden; among them, and being tended by a nurse Irvine recognised from his trips to the Infirmary to tend to Risha, was Seifer. Judging by the marks around his neck it looked like he'd been strangled half to death.

"Are you still here?" said Squall icily. For once no-one was suggesting he lighten up, he noticed. The others were regarding Seifer with at least as much disdain as he was.

"They needed a hand," said Seifer. "Chicken-Wuss there was about to get suckered."

"And you took it upon yourself to…"

"…Save his life. Yeah."

Squall suddenly felt very, very tired.

"And now…"

"I'll go, if that's what you still want." Seifer's voice was rough; he stared at the ground in front of him, dragging the tip of his blade through the sand.

Not Hyperion, Squall noticed. Just an ordinary Balamb issue gunblade.

"Were you junctioned?" he asked.

Seifer raised his head, a tinge of humiliation in his pale blue eyes.

"No. I'm not allowed," he said. "No Guardians, no magic. That's the deal."

"Why did you come back?" Squall saw Zell approaching out of the corner of his eye, and tried to communicate thank you, thank gods you're still alive, good job in one simple nod. Judging by the grin Zell gave him in return, he'd got at least some of it across.

Seifer hadn't answered him, he realised.

"Thanks, Seifer," said Zell, holding out his hand. "I thought I was a goner there for a while."

Seifer took his hand for a brief grip. "Couldn't let you get et, Chicken," he said.

"Why did you come back, Almasy?" said Squall, all too anxious to break up that little dialogue.

Seifer sighed. "Matron asked me to," he said. "She's been good to me, since… she's helped a lot. She thought it would be a good idea for me to rejoin SeeD, especially seeing as you need gunbladers."

"I'm not that desperate, thanks," said Squall, turning away towards the medical team.

"Please, Leonhart. Please let me stay."

Slowly, Squall turned back. "What did you say?"

Seifer glared at him, eyes narrowed to slits. "There's no need to enjoy this," he said.

Really? How come? Why shouldn't I enjoy my victory over you, you shithead? "Why?" he asked. "Why are you so desperate to become a SeeD, after all this time? And why the fuck should I have you on my team, in my sight, or on the same fucking planet as me, after what you did?"

To Squall's surprise, Seifer's expression softened a little. "Matron," he said, so quietly that Squall could hardly hear him. "I promised Edea I could turn a corner, that I could do this. That I could work for you, be what she seems to think I'm supposed to end up being."

Squall watched him, fighting down the pity he had no reason, no reason at all to feel for this man, who had rained down torture and betrayal on him, his friends and family without so much as a second thought.

What do you see in him, Edea? Because whatever it is, I don't see it at all.

"Please," he said. "I made her a promise. I don't want to break it."

That word again. Squall couldn't remember the last time he'd heard Seifer say please, or if he ever had, come to that.

He felt so, so tired.

"I'll talk to her tomorrow," he said. "Until then they'll tend your wounds in the Infirmary. Consider yourself confined there until you receive further orders."

He took a deep breath, and turned to the nurse. "How can I help?" he asked.

"Squall, man," Irvine gently squeezed his shoulder. "You need rest."

"I can't," said Squall, his voice tight. "I can't go back until… I can't."

"It's okay," said the nurse, gently. "We're nearly done here. Captain Kinneas is right, Commander. There's nothing you can do, and you look exhausted, all of you."

"Besides," said Rinoa, "the sooner we start dissecting that… thing, the sooner we get those answers you're always after."

"Oh." Squall looked down at the slab of tentacle in his hand as if seeing it for the first time; it was so important, but somehow he'd forgotten all about it. "Yes."

Frila returned, wiping grunge off her gunblade with a bit of kelp. It was quiet, all of a sudden; Squall could hear the inky waves rolling on the shore, the black of the sea indistinguishable from the night sky. His mind was fuggy with fatigue; he couldn't think straight any more.

"Come on, Squall," whispered Rinoa, putting a gentle hand on his back. "We've got Guardians to tend to and you need sleep. We might have to do this all over again tomorrow, and the Garden needs you."

Too tired to argue, he just nodded.

Frila let herself drift to Irvine's side again, wishing she could touch him as Rinoa was touching Squall, but satisfying herself with the faintest, casual brush of the back of her hand against his.

"Well done Hotshot," said Irvine, squeezing her hand. "I'm proud of you."

"We all are," said Quistis. "And don't forget," she couldn't resist raising her voice just a little so that she could be sure Seifer would hear. "That'll be at least two hours off your next field exam. Some people would do anything to get time off their field duty, you know."

Irvine gave Quistis a quizzical look, but she was already busy winding up her whip and settling it back on her belt. Seifer said nothing.

"Yeah," said Frila. "Um… thanks."

"Come on, Hotshot," said Irvine. "Time to go."

He was still holding her hand, Seifer noticed, as they walked away without so much as a goodbye.

"Well, I never," he murmured under his breath. "Now there's something interesting."

"What's that?" asked the nurse, making him jump. He'd forgotten she was there.

"Oh, nothing," he said. "Just romance on the battlefield, looks like. Who is that girl, the redhead with Kinneas?"

The nurse squinted at the retreating party. "Alfyrd, I think her name is," she said. "Lilla, or something. Romance?"

They were too far away now, for Seifer to be able to see whether he was still holding her hand.

"New SeeD?" asked Seifer, casually.

"No, just a cadet. Commander Leonhart seems to have taken her under his wing. We don't see her in the Infirmary except for her regular check ups and shots, she must be healthy, I guess."

"A cadet, eh?"

"Yeah. Far as I know."

Seifer watched the jeep head back towards Garden, and smiled.

* * * * * * *