A/N: Hello all!! If you're reading this, then you guys are frickin' awesome!! :D It's been too long between updates, but I'm going strong now; let's see how long this lasts! *lol*

Okay, so I suppose that wasn't all that funny; guess I left ya'll hangin' a bit too long. GOMEN!!!!

Anyway, chapter 9-11 (as I'm sure you've already realized if you're up to here) are all new material. I rearranged the way the chapters are set up, combining a few and therefore shortening the "length" of this story (if you're looking at chapter sizes). Anyway, hope you don't mind!

One other thing. I'm not here at FF.net quite as much as I used to be; this is more an archive for me instead of solely where I post everything. If you're interested in getting everything up to date, plus being able to get ahold of me, I'd suggest registering for the Final Fantasy Online forums (http://forums.ffonline.com). I'm a regular there, I answer posts there, plus that's where I put up all new stuff. PLUS, there are some absurdly incredible fics that are posted only there, so you wouldn't be regretting a decision to sign up. :D

Any questions, or if you can't seem to register for the boards (I myself had a tough time getting in, not quite sure why) just email me (my addy's on the main page) and I'll PM one of the admins to see what's up. Anyway, here's the newest chap! :-D





11


Despite Cid asking to see us immediately, it was an hour before I arrived in the Headmaster's office.

It wasn't totally my fault I was late, although I will admit to being a bit slow in getting changed. After taking the beating I'd been through I'm certain anyone would have been moving rather slowly too. But no, my injuries weren't the only cause for my pace: quite frankly, I was uncertain if I was ready to return to work. Not quite physically unready so much as emotionally unprepared. I had too many other things on my mind right now to be up to a meeting with the Headmaster. All I knew was that whatever Cid had to tell us had better be important.

Once I'd washed up and put on a new uniform I swung by Medical to check on Squall's condition, only to be told he was once again in surgery. Irvine, Selphie, and Zell were nowhere to be found but Rinoa still sat in the waiting room, staring at her hands. This time, however, she was accompanied by both Kiros and Ward seated on either side of her. Ward had his big arm around her in a comforting gesture, but Rinoa didn't seem to even notice.

The two men noticed me and Kiros stood up, meeting me at the door. "How is he?" I asked softly.

"Doing better, last I heard," Kiros replied in an equally low voice. "They've managed to fix everything as best they could, although they're not sure about the one kidney. The doctor said it'll be at least another few hours before done with this go-around."

I nodded. "How's she doing?" I asked, pitching my voice even lower.

"Same," he replied, sighing. "Your buddies left about twenty minutes ago, right after they wheeled him into surgery again."

"You two just arrived?"

"Yeah. Laguna's on his way; he'd be here now if it wasn't for the fact his aides won't let him leave until certain presidential details are signed, approved, whatever." Kiros didn't sound too pleased at the notion, and I had a good idea that Laguna's feelings echoed his friend's. Squall and Laguna hadn't worked out their differences yet, had in fact not spoken much at all since everything happened despite what I think were several abortive tries on Laguna's part. The President had always been vocally supportive of the Gardens, though; perhaps that was his way of beginning relations with his son again.

Not sure what else to say, I nodded again and thanked him for the information, silently cursing Cid for calling a meeting at a time like this. I gave Ward a nod, which he acknowledged, and with one last look at Rinoa I left the infirmary. I don't think Rinoa even knew I was there.

That, of course, was when I ran into Fujin and Raijin.

I'd been dreading our meeting, not quite having figured out what to say. 'I'm sorry you caught me looking like I was abusing Seifer' just didn't sound right, and quite frankly I didn't know what was going through the albino's head. Did she still want to punish me for what she thought I'd done, or had she been told of the entire situation? Of course, if she knew my reasons was she still eager to take my head anyway for doing what I did?

We just stared at one another for several moments, each of us trying to read the other. It occurred to me that I might pose the same challenge to her that she was to me, that she had no idea of what my reaction would be. Both of us had been in the wrong in our separate ways, even though each response could be said to be equally justifiable.

The silence stretched, the three of us garnering curious stares from passing students. Finally, Fujin's one-eyed gaze darted to the side, her lip curling slightly. "APOLOGIZE."

I sighed; so that was the way it was going to be. "Look Fujin, I'm sorry about what I did to Seifer, I really am, but it wasn't what--"

"NO," Fujin interrupted, her annoyed expression deepening. She glared balefully at me with her single red eye for a moment, then slapped her chest with a closed fist. "SORRY."

I stared at her blankly for a moment before I understood what she meant: it was her doing the apologizing, not a demand for my own apology. No wonder she was so annoyed; Fujin hated apologizing and I'd made her do it twice.

"Seifer told us what happened," Raijin said, sharing a look with Fujin before turning back to me. "But, um..."

"WHY?" Fujin demanded, still glaring at me.

Opting for the truth, I shrugged. "It was the only way I could make him stay still and listen to reason."

Fujin snorted. "STUPID."

"I suppose so." No arguments there; it hadn't been my proudest moment.

Another silence stretched, then Fujin stated a bit reluctantly, "STUBBORN."

Taking her phrase to be about Seifer, I gave a tiny smile. "That's the understatement of the year."

Nodding in agreement with me, she said a bit more softly, "CHANGED."

Unsure what she meant by that phrase, I glanced at Raijin. He nodded with Fujin and remarked, "It's true, he was different somehow..." His mouth open and shut, as if he was trying to think of some ay to describe whatever the change was. He glanced at Fujin, who just shrugged, and eventually Raijin did too. "He's just different, ya know."

Resolving to check out this transformed Seifer, I glanced at my watch. "I need to be somewhere right now," I told them reluctantly, "but I'm glad I was able to talk to you."

Raijin smiled while Fujin just stared; I took that as a positive sign (with Fujin, you couldn't always tell) and with a nod in their direction once again started towards Cid's office.

--0--

"Quistis, I'm glad you could make it."

"I apologize for being late, Headmaster," I said, closing the office door behind me. Around the front of Cid's desk sat Selphie, Irvine, Zell, Xu, and Nida.

"No problem," Cid replied with a smile as I took the seat between Selphie and Xu. "We haven't begun yet anyway."

"We just got here ourselves about ten minutes ago," Selphie whispered to me, "although Xu's been here about half an hour and Nida not much less than that."

Punctuality was usually very important to me; it was rare I was the last one to a meeting. Selphie was pointedly staring at me, obviously curious about my tardiness, but I just nodded at the news and remained silent.

"Now that we're all here," Irvine stated, pushing his cowboy hat up from his face, "care to tell us what this meeting's about?"

Other than the slightly disrespectful way the question was phrased, I agreed with Irvine but Cid was shaking his head. "We're still waiting for one more..."

He cut off as the door opened and Seifer slowly made his way into the office.

"What's he doing here?" Zell blurted out, then immediately looked ashamed at his outburst.

Cid's lips brow furrowed, a rare signal that indicated he was becoming angry. "He's as much a part of this as you all are," the Headmaster stated firmly, and while we all stared at him in various states of shock Cid motioned to an extra armchair to his left. "Go ahead and take a seat, Seifer."

Something was different about the blond man. It took me a minute of staring while he crossed the room to figure it out: the white coat that had been his trademark for so long was missing. He was wearing a faded red shirt and black pants, one of his normal ensembles, but the coat that had always before covered them was gone; without it, he looked completely different. The increased length of his hair was suddenly much more noticeable; instead of being slicked back it was slightly tousled, as if he hadn't bothered with it after taking a shower. Squall had somewhat trimmed his previously unruly hair several months back, figuring the shorter look was more professional; Rinoa had been decidedly put out by the change, since she'd always loved the longer look. While Seifer's cut wasn't as long as Squall's had once been, it was interesting to note the unintentional similarities.

"Sorry I was late sir," Seifer said, reclining back in the chair. "I'd left my communicator off and the doctor had trouble getting ahold of me."

"No worries, no worries," Cid replied cheerily, "you're here now and that's all that matters. Now, down to business. "His face grew somber very quickly as he continued. "I'm sorry I had to call you all in at a time like this. I know many of you have...other places you'd rather be."

At least he understood that, for which I was grateful.

"Unfortunately, precisely because of both the nature of the 'incident' and the person who suffered most I had to call you together as quickly as possible." Unable to remain in his seat, Cid rose to his feet and began pacing the room. "Squall was...is... the Commander here at Garden. As certain as I am that he'll be back on the job soon" - Cid's back was turned to me at that moment so I couldn't see his expression - "right now the Garden is essentially without a commanding officer. Therefore, I'd like to temporarily promote Quistis Trepe to the role of Commander here at Balamb Garden."

Whatever Cid said immediately after that I never heard. Me, the Commander? Squall had been welcome to that particular honor; I barely managed to juggle the duties I had now, not counting the responsibilities inherent to that role. I wished the Headmaster had informed me about his decision beforehand instead of dumping it suddenly at my feet like this...

"Quistis?"

Blinking, I looked up to see Cid staring at me. "Yes sir?" I asked politely, surprised my voice sounded so normal.

"I was asking if you were willing to accept the new role."

I was getting a choice? Well, I thought privately, not much of a choice really; I couldn't easily say no with so many eyes on me. Still, I knew myself enough to be certain that that even if Cid had asked me in private my answer would have been the same. I wasn't sure if I was the best one for this particular job; surely there were some more qualified than I was, but if Cid was offering it to me then ... "I accept."

"Good," Cid exclaimed, giving me a small smile. "We'll make any necessary arrangement for the temporary transfer a little later." Returning to his desk, he sat down as his face once again turned somber. "There's another reason I called this meeting," he stated seriously.

"Because were are a military organization not connected to any one country, we are constantly under the scrutiny of local governments. The Gardens' reputation was, in some circles, tarnished by what happened when we fought the sorceress. Some of our actions since..." He winced, then reiterated, "Some of my actions since then have done nothing to alleviate those concerns."

"If you're talking about Matron," Zell stated hotly, slamming a fist on the armrest of his chair, "then to hell with what they think of your actions." A chorus of voices agreeing with the martial artist rose around the room, mine included.

Cid's troubled expression lightened somewhat. "Thank you all for that," he murmured, and seemed to want to say more but kept silent, swallowing hard.

I glanced over at Seifer, seated alone nearby Cid: nobody had spoken up in defense for him like they had Edea. His face was inscrutable however; I couldn't tell what he may have been thinking about that fact.

"Anyway," Cid continued after a moment, "certain actions have done little to alleviate negative publicity. We aren't exactly the darlings of the public anymore now that nearly a year has gone by, and people tend to forget heroism quickly unless constantly reminded. We've gone back to getting both threats and offers from neighboring countries along the lines of 'Joins us, or leave.' Nothing new, really, as we were getting those even before all this happened.

"Two days ago, we received an interesting note which I might have disregarded had I not just received another piece of information a few hours ago. Or, rather..." He trailed off with a frown, then shook his head. "I suppose it's best if I showed you all."

Cid depressed a crystal penholder to his right and a square section sank down at the center of the desk. This immediately angled upward and as it turned over we saw the bottom side was a small screen. "What I'm about to show you," the Headmaster stated, "was part of a communication I received from one of our contacts. I managed to record a small portion before it was cut off." He typed something on his desk and the screen came alive with static. Seifer came around to the back of us, crouching down in the space between Selphie and I.

"... me that whatever it has has gotten stronger." A stranger, most likely the contact, had appeared on the screen. He looked to be in his thirties, with dark hair and eyes, and a face that was very plain and thus hard to describe. The perfect spy. "Since its acquisition of Galbadia it's been silent..."

He trailed off, listening to what I suppose was Cid asking a question; there was no audio of the Headmaster on the recording.

The stranger shook his head against whatever the statement had been. "There hasn't been a single whisper of anything like tha--" He cut off suddenly, head whipping around to the right. "Who...?"

His eyes widened at something out of view and a sudden look of fear crossed his face, then he seemed to freeze in place. A gloved hand reached out from beyond the screen, touching one finger to the man's forehead as a low voice murmured something intelligible. The contact's face went slack for a single instant, his expression curiously vacant, then reformed into a normal expression as the hand withdrew.

All of this happened within three seconds time, before Cid could probably even react. Turning back to the communicator with a polite expression the spy remarked calmly, "I'm afraid I have found new employment, Headmas--"

The communication had been disconnected at that point, most likely from Cid's end. The desk panel retracted back to its original location, and we all turned puzzled looks to the Headmaster; he, however, was rummaging around the top of his desk, obviously looking for something. "This is the note," he stated, handing me a piece of laminated parchment, "we received two days ago. I would probably have forgotten about it if we hadn't had our little incident in the training yard."

I took the note carefully from the Headmaster's hand and, as everyone crowded around me, began to read it out loud. "For a Garden to grow / A SeeD must be sown / With a fence spread around to protect. / But now comes the surprise / I still got inside, / Your barrier reduced to a speck." I blinked as I realized I was reading a limerick but continued, "As easy as it is / It doesn't take a great whiz / To realize you're not all that safe. / I got past your fence / This time only a test / Unless with me you decide to ally." At the bottom of the note there was no signature, but instead a red stamp in the form of a ... What?

Shocked silence followed as everyone read the 'note' again, and in some cases a third time. Finally, Selphie broke the silence. "This was the threat?" she asked, her voice doubtful.

"Someone fancies themselves quite the comedian," Seifer remarked from over my shoulder as he returned to his own seat.

"It wasn't a very good poem either, was it," Zell piped up, his eyes still on the paper. "Frankly, it seriously sucked; the last word didn't even rhyme."

"Limerick," I corrected absently, my thoughts on the note in my hand.

"Whatever," Zell waved the comment aside.

My brow furrowed. "This isn't a laughing matter," I started sternly, but for some reason my comment seemed to amuse Zell, Selphie, and Irvine.

"C'mon Quisty," Irvine drawled, "how can we possibly take someone whose signature is a red sheep seriously?"

"It's a llama," I corrected sharply, and that set them all off in a fit of giggles. I sighed and massaged my temples, exasperated at their attitudes.

"We finally finished the student and SeeD census a couple hours back." The suddenness of Cid's voice stopped the giggling, although I still heard an occasional snicker. "Between the few still out on missions and the rest here at Garden, we were able to account for all but two cadets. One operative from the field still hasn't replied back and a cadet here, Reginald Cahill, was last seen a couple hours before your unfortunate experience heading in the direction of the training area."

That shut everyone up instantly. My chest constricted; Reggie Cahill had been one of the ones I'd sent to Xu's office for ganging up on Seifer. I may have been part of the reason he'd gone to the training area in the first place, if like me he went there to relieve pent-up anger. And if he'd disappeared, with the emerald dragon on the loose in there... I wasn't sure I knew how to deal with that.

"No matter the source," Cid continued in a low voice, "we're taking any threats to Garden seriously from now on. You are all among the more public Seeds here at B-Garden, whether because of rank, instructorship, or experience, which is why I called you here."

I glanced over and was gratified to see that Selphie and Irvine (I couldn't see Zell from my seat, but I'm sure him as well) looked ashamed of themselves, and even Nida looked a little uncomfortable.

"Quistis," Cid continued, and my gaze snapped back to the Headmaster. "I need you an Xu to assemble a crew together to coordinate several protective spells for the whole of Garden. We also need to increase our surveillance on who comes and goes, both at the entrances as well as throughout Garden."

My first hour in office, and I was being given some hefty assignments. Still, at least these duties would be less tedious than correcting papers; it'd be nice to see someplace other than the inside of my classroom.

"It's been nearly a year since our defeat of Adel," the Headmaster stated, steepling his fingers atop the desk. "Now it seems we may have another threat facing us, even if we don't yet know what it may be. If it has anything to do with what happened to Galbadia Garden..." Cid took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I'd just rather be a bit more prepared this time around."

-------------------------

"I still think that letter was funny."

"Stuff it Zell," Seifer murmured, not even looking at the blond. His voice lacked any of its normal bite and Zell looked thunderous for a moment, but when Seifer did nothing but stare at the closing elevator doors the volatile martial artists simply crossed his arms and turned away. I gave Seifer a curious glance but he ignored me too.

"So what do we do now?" Selphie asked softly, echoing what I knew we were all thinking. Nobody said anything, but I felt a number of stares in my direction.

Wondering if this was how Squall felt when people turned to him for decisions, I replied, "We do as Cid says. I'll probably have to give some sort of announcement about what happened before me and Xu start to research some spells we can use to bind to Garden's defenses."

"We can do that," Selphie piped up. "Me and Irvy have had to use the library before, so we know how to find some of the stuff."

Curious as to how they 'used' the library yet not really wanting to ask, I nodded. "Sounds good." I noticed Zell didn't look too thrilled about that particular decision, and storing it away to tell Ellone later I continued, "Zell, I need you to do a full sweep of Garden. Unless someone has figure out how to teleport something that size into a moving target it had to be brought or let inside. Find out where."

"Roger, Commander," he replied, saluting sharply.

I wondered if I'd get used to being called that. Squall was the 'Commander', not me; it just didn't seem right. Some might argue that a position of leadership like I'd just been thrust into was little different than teaching, but in my mind there was a big difference. Making a choice about peoples' lives, about who went on what mission and dealing with the consequences of those decisions, was a whole lot different than deciding if an essay was an A or a B+. "Nida, I need you to do a diagnostic on the Garden's controls; try to learn as much as you can about how this facility ticks, how deep the controls go, etc, and give me a report on it as soon as you can."

"Yes sir...um, ma'am."

With a sinking feeling in my gut I ticked off the multitude of things I'd have to arrange due to my promotion, temporary thought it might be. I still had classwork that needed grading before classes started again, plus if this went on long enough I'd have to arrange splitting up the cadets among the other instructors. Balamb wasn't a large Garden, but we'd had an influx of younger members in the past year, many of whom were not orphans, which had served to expand our ranks. On top of my classes, I'd also arranged to help several students with GF training, plus give lessons on whip mastery...

"What do you want me to do?"

Startled out of my thoughts, I glanced over at Seifer. He continued to stare inscrutably ahead, but when I didn't immediately answer he looked over at me, his eyes silently challenging.

To be honest, I hadn't thought of anything for Seifer to do; I had figured he wouldn't want to help. Yet here he was, asking for an assignment when I'd plainly overlooked him in delegating tasks. Grimacing inwardly, I wondered if he'd take my not including him personal...then remembered this was Seifer. Of course he would.

The thing was, I didn't know what task to give him. It was obvious I couldn't have him working with anyone; he'd never been much of a team player anyway, but with feelings running so high about who he had been I doubted anyone would work willingly with him anyway. He could be useful though; Seifer had an excellent sense for strategy, quite possibly the reason he so often disobeyed orders - he saw a better way to do things. Still, we didn't need any battle strategies, not yet at least, but perhaps...

"I need you to give me as thorough a report as you can on the defenses of this facility," I said finally as the elevator doors opened to the main floor. "Every nook and cranny, any possible entrances we didn't know about before, just about anything you think might be important. Start around the basement since we don't know much there, but be careful with NORG - he's still dormant down there." A thought occurred to me and I added, "You can use Fujin and Raijin; three sets of eyes are better than one. I'll send you the blueprints to Garden to give you someplace to begin."

"Aye," he replied simply, stepping first out of the elevator and striding briskly down the stairs. Materializing seemingly out of nowhere, Fujin and Raijin appeared at his side and he bent down, murmuring something to them. Within seconds the three separated, each heading a completely different direction.

I stared after the trio for a moment, then noticed bemusedly that everyone else was too. It seemed I wasn't the only one who'd noticed a difference in Seifer; every face on the elevator had various degrees of confusion. Zell was frowning with his head cocked to one side, while Xu showed only a polite curiosity.

Irvine caught my gaze, and a mock pout broke through his bewildered look. "How come he gets the fun job?" he whined, earning an elbow in the ribs from Selphie.

The comment broke the mood, and the group shared a small laugh. Rolling my eyes I exited the elevator, followed by the rest.