"It's about time," Squall said shortly as Irvine opened the door and threw himself into a chair, propping his boots on the desk.

                "What, did you expect me to sprint up here or somethin'?" Irvine asked, fanning himself with his hat. "I've got an image to uphold." Squall finally turned around, his face expressionless.

                "You didn't happen to see Quistis on your way up here, did you?" Irvine nodded, grinning.

                "I sure did."

                "And…"

                "She looked pretty intense before I stopped her, but we got to talking about the mission and she lightened up a little. She sort of went into Quisty-command-mode, you know?" Squall nodded.

                "So you know the basics of the mission?" Irvine nodded again, cocking his finger at a bird flying by the window, following its movements. Squall sighed and reclined in his chair. "Stop worrying, Commander," Irvine said, accenting his sentence with a small "click", his hand jerking backwards. "It's a great mission – it'll keep her busy for quite awhile. It sounds deceptively simple though, eh?" Squall nodded.

                "Yeah… the catch is that we can't use SeeD transports to take them anywhere. Laguna thought it would be too obvious, so we're having them travel in disguise."

                "Incognito," Irvine replied with a grin. "You know, if this doesn't bring her out of her funk, maybe a kickstart for her love life will give her something else to think about-" Squall blanched, his eyes widening at the thought of getting involved with that aspect of Quistis' life. "-Or… not," Irvine finished, amused at Squall's look of horror. "So all's she has to do is get Seifer to Esthar alive, without the use of SeeD transports? Piece of cake for a stud like her, don't you think?" Squall shrugged.

                "There's no doubt in my mind that she can do it, but odds are Seifer's not going to be thrilled with the relocation. And unfortunately, the masses are fully at odds with him… and with SeeD. The sheer number of complaints filing into this office about our residency decision was amazing. You heard about the riots in Deling City, right?" Irvine nodded slowly, his face suddenly withdrawn.

                "And you're sending her to face this alone?"

                "I figured trying to keep it quiet would go a lot more smoothly than sending an army of soldiers," Squall replied shortly.

                "Esthar isn't that far-"

                "It's not just to Esthar," Squall interrupted. Irvine paused.

                "Oh."

                "That's not in the initial briefs. She'll receive a second set of orders as soon as she meets up with Laguna."

                "Just how violent were these attacks on Seifer?" Irvine asked, adjusting his ponytail. Squall shrugged evenly.

                "Pretty bad, hence the disguise," Squall said, gazing out the window. Irvine drummed his fingers on the arm of his chair, then stood up.

                "You know, it may be really dangerous… but I think this was the right thing to do, Squall. That girl does her best when she's busy… and thanks for doing the dirty work. I wouldn't have wanted to deal with her when she figured out what was going on," he added, grinning.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

                "Wow," Quistis said, staring in shock at her reflection. Her hair, still dripping wet, hung down her back in a long, copper rope. Glancing at the smiling woman on the box of the hair dye, she grimaced. Combined with her newly green eyes, compliments of some contacts she'd picked up from Dr. Kadowaki, the person staring back at her in the mirror didn't look like her at all. "I suppose that's the point, though," she sighed, running a comb through her hair and pinning it up loosely. With the addition of a little makeup, some sunglasses, and some civilian clothing she'd borrowed from Selphie, she no longer looked the part of a soldier. "I look like a damned prostitute," she muttered, walking outside the bathroom.

                "Wow, Quisty," Selphie said, springing off the bed. Selphie had insisted on "helping" Quistis get ready for the mission – "help" that merely consisted of sitting on the bed while Quistis took her time in the bathroom. "You don't even look like you anymore!" Quistis pursed her lips.

                "I look like a whore," she stated simply. "Maybe Rinoa's got a skirt I can borrow or something – I didn't realize that these shoes would add a full three inches to my height."

                "Just don't bend over," Selphie suggested. Coming from anyone else that remark would be laced with sarcasm, but in this case, it was simply Selphie's common sense speaking up.

                "Thanks… I'll keep that in mind," Quistis replied. The flowery sundress flapped around her thighs as her fan blew by her, and she picked up her bag, checking her watch. "That took far too long," she muttered, turning to the door. "Thanks for the help, Selphie," she said absently, holding the door for her petite friend.

                "No problem, anytime! Good luck," Selphie added as she skipped down the hall. Quistis cracked her knuckles as she walked to the elevator, feeling butterflies surface. It was an odd feeling – nervousness. Nerves were something she'd never really dealt with – every endeavor she'd undertaken in her life she'd been more than adequately prepared for. Well, except Ultimecia. But how could you prepare yourself to defeat the most powerful sorceress in the universe? The elevator doors opened and Quistis stepped into the foyer of Squall's office, setting her bag by Xu's desk.

                "Can I help you?" Xu asked, her face expressionless. Quistis paused, then grinned, pulling down her sunglasses.

                "It's me, Xu," she replied. The dark-haired woman froze for a moment, squinting, then laughed.

                "Good disguise, Q," she said, pointing to the dress. "But aren't you supposed to travel WITHOUT attracting attention?"

                "Oh, shut up," Quistis shot back as she reached for Squall's door. "I don't own any civilian clothes that don't scream 'QUISTIS TREPE', so I had to borrow something of Selphie's." Xu nodded, turning back to her computer.

                "Good luck." Quistis knocked sharply on the door, then opened it, stepping inside.

                "I know, I know," Squall was saying into the phone, his eyes darting upwards as she walked in. He paused for a moment, frowning, before recognition flashed across his face and turned back to his conversation. "Right, I know. The SeeD is right in front of me, and… yes, within half an hour. Right. Thank you," he finished stonily, placing the phone back in the receiver. "Ready to go?" Quistis nodded. "I'm going to send you in an unmarked car, and you're meeting Seifer and a member of Balamb's council in the foyer of the hotel. Any questions?"

                "None at all," Quistis replied shortly, anxious to get on with the mission. Squall nodded.

                "I'll call for your car while you're on your way down. Good luck." After she'd left, Squall buzzed for her transport and then sat back. Logistics of running a garden got so difficult when there were friends involved.