Shiva stared down at the still unconscious female in her arms, knowing she wouldn't recover from the information overload until she'd rested properly. She also knew she couldn't walk in there carrying a missing SeeD candidate without arousing too many questions. Setting down Fureya in a drift of snow, she clasped the girl's head in her hands and leant her forehead against Fureya's. Shiva exploded in a flurry of crystal flakes and Fureya opened her eyes.

Climbing to her feet she moved to toss her hair over her shoulder and grimaced as she realized it wasn't long enough. Fureya's now sapphire gaze scanned the area as she started to walk, hopefully in the direction of Trabia Garden.

~*~

Willard ran nervous fingers through his hair and slunk out of the room that had been set up to house the search party; Impatient as ever he wanted to do something to help. He couldn't help think that if he'd been there with her, things would be different.

He climbed up into one of the sentry towers that dotted the perimeter of the rebuilt Garden. Extra defences had been put in place to help Trabia stand its ground.

He knew his mother would murder him if he went out there looking for her and he also knew that he would probably do more harm then help if he got lost in the dark. Feeling helpless he borrowed a pair of binoculars off of the sleepy sentry and scanned the horizon repeatedly for the next hour. He ignored any sort of conversation the sentry tried to initiate and kept his unwavering focus on the land in front of him. Willard knew the chance of her walking up to the front gate was almost non-existent, but he had to do something.

Another silent hour passed and a glance at his watch told him it was ten o'clock and the temperature had dropped a couple of degrees and a fresh layer of snow had started to fall when he spotted a sluggishly moving figure break through the line of trees on the left. Dropping the borrowed binoculars, he fled the room without hearing the smash of the dropped objects.

When he reached the Garden entrance, the figure was closer and to Willard's eyes, unmistakably Fureya.

"Fureya!" He called and grasped her firmly when he reached her. Fureya turned her face up to Willard's and smiled shakily. Willard froze; her normally grey eyes were icy blue.

"Take care of Fureya." A tired voice said from her lips as the blueness faded leaving dull grey irises. Almost instantly, her eyes rolled up in her head and collapsed into his arms. Willard instantly tightened his grip around the girl, changing it so he could pick her up and carry her inside to the Garden.

~*~

Back in Balamb Garden, Keladryie had returned with the others and was now making her way to the training grounds. The results on the SeeD exam had been postponed until Fureya was brought back to Balamb.

Weaving deep into the training centre among all the leafy branches, Keladryie came across a gnat. She made quick work of it, severing a few of its arm like body parts before impaling it savagely.

Moving even deeper into a clump of bushes, she searched for more. Finding them, she killed them quickly before pressing on deeper into the heart of the dense bush.

She was surprised when she found a clearing and looked around curiously. Miniature looking gnats instantly surrounded her as her heart skipped a beat; she'd stumbled into a nest of them.

Slowly, she tried to edge out of the moving mass of the infants but accidentally stood on one. The injured gnat let out a shrill shriek, drawing the attention of the adult gnats that instantly surrounded Keladryie.

Keladryie swallowed heavily and gripped the hilt of her Hyperion and charged the nearest one, ending its life in an instant. Her movement instantly set all of the surrounding gnats on her.  Swinging her blade desperately, she fought hard against the onslaught of gnats. She held her own for a short while, but eventually the sheer numbers of infant, adolescent and adult gnats started to overpower her.

Ripping a weighted throwing blade from her belt, she flung it at a gnat and missed. The blade sunk deep into the ground and seemed to melt into a growing inky pool. It stopped growing and rippled as a black and crimson winged figure exploded out of the inky ground.

He unfurled his wings and glided over and extracted a breathless Keladryie from the fight. Cradling her in his arms, he calmly flew to the exit of the centre and set himself down lightly.

"Who are you?" Keladryie panted, tightening her hold on her blade in case the winged creature wanted trouble.

"I was called Diablos by my mother." He said simply and dropped Keladryie on to the ground. Wincing and climbing to her feet, she stared at the creature taking in every black line and crimson patch.

"You had a mother?" She said scornfully and rubbed her backside.  Diablos let out a hoarse laugh and shrugged his powerful shoulders.

"You'd be surprised." He stated and looked her over. "I was reincarnated as a female?" He growled sceptically and laid a leathery hand on Keladryie's forehead.

A controlled influx of information flooded her brain and she reeled back away from his hand before sliding to the ground; passed out cold.

Diablos let out a pensive sigh and gathered the girl up in his arms again and exited in the direction of the infirmary. Unlike his sister he had no qualms about being seen.

And seen he was, but no body approached him and he offered no words to them.

Entering the infirmary he glared at the doctor in charge, Dr Moora.

"She needs rest." He said gruffly and laid Keladryie on one of the cots before exploding into a burst of midnight colored bats.

~*~

Squall entered the infirmary a couple of hours later with his daughter sleeping peacefully in his arms.

"I don't think she's in danger, but I would prefer she was watched and examined when she wakes." He told the doctor as he laid Fureya in the other cot. Glancing at Keladryie he raised a questioning eyebrow at Dr. Moora who shrugged.

"She was brought in unconscious about three hours ago by a black and red winged creature. He said basically what you just said now." She informed him as she bustled over to check out her newest patient.

Squall stared at the girl silently before walking out, a thoughtful expression on his face.

~*~

It was two days before the pair awoke in perfect health. Neither of them said a word about what had happened to them.

An hour later, Keladryie, Willard, Fureya, Amelia, Macen and Garret stood before Headmistress Trepe with a handful of other newly appointed SeeD members.

"Congratulations all of you. You have passed the final test as SeeD candidates and now your destiny lies before you full of harder days and harder tests. You are now fully qualified as Balamb special forces and will be required to fight for reasons other than your own and for people you've never met before." Quistis said shortly and smiled at them all. "Now go change and go enjoy the inauguration ball!"

Fureya smoothed her new uniform skirt and grinned at Amelia.

"Ready to go?" She said cheerfully. Amelia nodded and smiled just as cheerfully.

The pair exited their shared dorm that they had opted to stay in instead of the single dorms and practically skipped down the corridor. Tension free for the first time in a while, the air surrounding the new SeeD members was light; even Keladryie had a smile for Fureya and Amelia.

"Congrats Keladryie." Fureya and Amelia chimed sincerely as she joined their group.

"Yeah, you too." She said gruffly and flashed them a smile.

The three of them entered the ballroom together, smiling and happy. They drifted apart temporarily to go talk to their present parents.

After receiving gruff words of pride from Squall, she glanced around the room and made a beeline for a waitress with a tray full of crystal glasses. Fureya took one with a word of thanks and sipped the golden liquid curiously. She wrinkled her nose at the taste of champagne and took another sip.

"Fureya. Congratulations." Willard murmured softly as he slid up next to her. Fureya turned to face him, butterflies in her stomach at the sound of his voice.

"Congratulations yourself." She murmured shyly and took another sip. "Also, I heard you were the one that found me. Thanks." Willard looked away as he remembered the circumstances he'd found her under, those ice like eyes still worried him. He chose not to say anything as the band struck up a familiar song opening.

"My Grandmother wrote this song." Fureya commented and smiled at her father who was in deep conversation with Zell Dincht, Irvine Kinneas and Seifer Almasy and from the looks of things, Seifer was stirring up the blonde martial artist. Zell was pulling a few air punches in Seifer's general direction.

Without warning, Willard removed Fureya's glass from her hand and handed it to Macen as he wandered over.

"Dance with me Reya." He murmured and led her out to the spacious dance floor without waiting for an answer. Fureya shot Macen an apologetic smile as she was led away.

Stopping, Willard laid his hand on her waist and held her smaller hand in his own as she laid her other hand on his shoulder gently. Slowly and with deliberate carefulness, the pair started to follow through the routine steps of the waltz. They were barely in time with the music, but it didn't bother them much.

My last night here for you
Same old songs, just once more
My last night here with you?
Maybe yes, maybe no

Grey eyes held grey eyes as the world around them merged into a unnoticed blur. Niether of them wanted the moment to end and neither of them wanted to think of what tomorrow would bring for them. Tomorrow promised work and paying clientele who would require SeeD members with their minds on their jobs. Tomorrow would split them up and send them in different directions.


I kind of liked it your your way
How you shyly placed your eyes on me
Oh, did you ever know?
That I had mine on you.

Fureya leant over as the music came to a halt and kissed Willard softly. Pulling away, she smiled sadly at him.

"Macen and I have to head for Esthar. We've been employed to replace the two SeeD who were injured while clearing Estharian streets of remaining monsters. So it would be best if we parted on a happy note, my placing will take considerable time." She saluted him swiftly. "Good luck with your own operations." She forced herself to turn away and leave him standing there at a loss for words.

Willard saw the sense in her hurtful words and turned away from her retreating figure to go outside and brood on the balcony.

"Will." Macen called as him and Garret followed him. Willard turned to face him, his grey eyes sharp and serious.

"You take care of her Dincht." He warned quietly. Macen nodded and saluted him.

"Anything for a friend." Macen promised as Garret leant against the railing.

"We've got our assignment too Will." He drawled. "You, me and Almasy will be going to Deling. Traces of a sorceress were found there by one of Odine's instruments. We will be hunting around for any word, sight or sound of this sorceress whilst Squall leads Annabelle, Amelia and two other SeeD members; I forgot their names, into Galbadia Garden. Rumour has it that they were harbouring the very same sorceress." He finished and dusted some dirt off of his new uniform. Willard grimaced.

"Sound's like a wild goose chase." He grumbled, drawing a shrug from Garret.

"Maybe, but as SeeD its our job to prove them to be rumours." He commented quietly.

"I know I know." Willard mumbled as he ran fingers through his hair. "I just hope they are rumours and it is a wild goose chase."