CHAPTER VII (A): THE FLOWER GIRL
Tifa, RedXIII and Cinna did not have much trouble defeating Malboro. Yuffie, Cid and Cait Sith had a little trouble defeating the Iron Giant because of its tough armor. Cloud and Sephiroth were still fighting against each other, while Zack, Amber and everybody else regroup.
"Is everyone alright?" Tifa asked.
"Yes, we're all fine, Tifa," Cait Sith answered.
"Then let's go after Sephiroth!" Zack shouted as he charged towards where Cloud and Sephiroth were.
Cloud and Sephiroth are standing a short distance from each other. They were both staring fiercely at each other. Then, Sephiroth charges once again. Cloud was ready for him but then the sound of a gunshot surprised both Cloud and Sephiroth as a bullet flies pass in front of Sephiroth, stopping his charge. They both look up a small hill where Vincent stood with his gun, smoke coming out of it. Sephiroth was surprised again when suddenly a blade swished by him. He jumped back, the blade barely missing him by a few inches. Sephiroth lands on his feet a few distances away from Zack, who was the one that attacked him.
"That was close, Zack," Sephiroth admired to him. He glared at Zack, piercingly, "Too close."
"I guess it wasn't close enough," Zack, preparing himself for another attack.
Sephiroth looks at him, then he smiles and laughs, "You're stronger than I thought you would be, defeating my father. But he was a weakling himself."
Zack was angered by that and charged to strike him again, but Sephiroth jumped to the back again, dodging his attack. As he landed on his feet, everyone grouped around Zack. Now, Sephiroth stood just a few feet away from the whirling vortex. Looking at all of them, Sephiroth smiled slyly.
"Well, I'll be seeing you all in the other world. maybe!"
Everyone was surprised when he said that, but was to slow to stop him as he turned around and jumped into the vortex. Zack ran ahead of the group.
"Come on, let's go!" Zack continued running ahead, everyone else followed him from behind.
Zack stopped in front of the vortex. Amber joined him shortly when suddenly they heard a strange sound. They both turned around to see everyone dazed with shock. Cloud shook off his shock and walked forward but was suddenly pushed back by some force, followed by the sound again.
"Cloud!" Tifa shouted, concerned, as she ran to him.
"There seem to be some kind of force field around the vortex!" exclaimed Cait Sith. It walks over and bangs on the side of the force field, creating the sound again, "I don't think we can get through!"
Cait Sith looks at Zack and Amber as he continued, "You two would have to go into the vortex and to the other world without us."
Zack and Amber were shocked when they heard that.
Looking at each other, Zack then says, "I guess we've got no choice."
He faces towards Cloud and the others, "All right then! Hope that we will see each other again!"
"Good luck."
Everyone was surprised, as none of them had said that. Suddenly, a strange light-green light appeared near them. They were all surprised when a girl with long brown hair appeared from the light. She was wearing a pink dress and a small, thin, red jacket over it.
"Aries!" Zack thought in his mind, as he stared at the once flower girl from Midgar, Aries, in total surprise.
"Hi, guys," Aries greeted everyone, waving timidly.
"Aries! Wh-Why are you here?" Tifa, still surprised to see Aries.
"Oh, it's that vortex," Aries explained, looking at the vortex, "Something was disturbing the Promised Land and so I came to investigate and was surprised to find Sephiroth, together with a strange man in a dark-blue cape and this vortex."
"I continued watching them until you guys came," Aries continued, "And then, here I am."
She then looks at Zack and Amber, "Hi, I'm Aries Gainsborough. I hope I didn't frighten you two."
"No, it was all right with me," Zack answered.
"Me, too. Just surprised," Amber answered, too.
Aries then smiles at them, happily, "That's good. Well, good luck on your journey in the other world."
"Yeah, hope to see you all again. Bye," Zack said as he waved at them and turns to the vortex.
"It was really nice to meet you, Aries and I do hope to see you all again. So long," Amber, also waved before she turned to the vortex.
Zack looks at her, "Let's go."
She nodded, smiling in excitement. They both then jumped into the vortex. After disappearing in the vortex, Cloud and everybody else just stood still for a while.
Feeling a little dumb, Cid asks, "So. What do we do now?"
*********
In, what seems to be, an empty hallway, Zack and Amber suddenly appeared in a flash of light. They landed on the floor, hard. Both of them felt the impact.
"Ow." Zack uttered, feeling the pain at his bottom. He then looks at Amber, "You alright?"
"Yeah. ow. I'm fine," Amber answered, as she rubbed at her right knee.
"Your knee hurts?" Zack asked as he rushed to her.
"No, it's alright," Amber told him as he kneeled down, looking at her knee.
"Do you mind, um, if I take a look?" Zack asked her, his face turning red a little.
Since Amber was wearing long pants, Zack couldn't see how her knee was. Amber blushed in shyness.
"Um, uh, n-n-no," she answered shyly, turning her head away, trying to hide her blushing face.
Zack then slowly rolled up her right pant up til the top of her kneecap, which was just enough for him to see her hurt knee.
"It's burning red. If you leave it like that, it'll leave a bruise," Zack told her.
She was going to say that it was alright when Zack started to massage at the hurting part of her knee.
"Uh," Amber cried, feeling a little pain as Zack was massaging her knee.
"Was it too hard?"
"N-No, it's all right. I'm fine."
"Well, we shouldn't leave your knee like this. Like I said, it'll leave a bruise if we do."
When Amber nodded in agreement, Zack continued massaging her knee. Amber just smiled timidly, her face blushing, as she shyly watched Zack. A few minutes later, Zack rolled Amber's pant back down. Her knee has gotten less redder than it was before.
"Thank you, Zack," Amber said timidly, still blushing.
He then blushes, too. He turns his head away, trying to hide his face.
"Um, uh, y-you're welcome."
Amber then stood up and started looking around. When he realized that, he also stood up.
"Where do you think we are, Zack?"
"I'm not sure."
Zack continued looking around as he started to think to himself again, "This looks a little familiar. If I'm not wrong, this just might be."
He faces to Amber, "Let's go to the end of that hallway, Amber. Maybe we'll get an idea where we are."
"Okay," Amber agreed.
They then ran to the end of the hallway. There, they looked around.
"Yup, I was right," Zack thought.
They were now looking at the center of Balamb Garden.
==========
CHAPTER VII (B): THE NEW CHARACTERS
Zack and Amber are wandering around to the left wing of the garden, where they could see three wide doorways that led to different rooms. As they were wandering, they hear music coming from one of the rooms. They looked towards the room. "Looks like there are people there," Amber said, "They seem to be celebrating or having a party." "Let's find out," Zack said as he walked towards the room, as Amber followed from behind. When they entered the room, they looked around. The room was huge and had a giant chandelier hanging in the middle of it. Most of the people in the room seemed to be in uniform. Zack could recognize some of them to be SeeD uniforms, but he didn't tell Amber. He didn't want her to be suspicious of him for knowing about this world. Just then, they heard someone, "Aw, great! Batteries down!" They turned to see who was it. It was a tall young man with long brown hair, which was tied with a thin band. He was wearing a brown overcoat. He was holding a video camera in his hand. "Just when they were getting to the best part!" the man continued. "That is bad!" a girl in a yellow dress shouted as she rushed over to the man. The girl had short, shiny, brown hair that curls up at the end. She was wearing a black cowboy hat. "Here're some batteries," she continued, passing some batteries to the man.
"What a bad timing for the batteries to run out," the man said as he put in the new batteries into the camera, "I guess we'll just have to get it next time." "Irvine? Selphie?" Zack thought as he watched them. "Hey, I've never seen you two before. Are you two new students?" Both Zack and Amber were surprised when a young boy suddenly appeared. "Oh, I know what you're thinking. How would I be sure if I've never seen you two before since there are about over hundreds or, maybe even, a few thousand students in this garden? But I'm quite sociable. I like to make new friends. And also, I help the headmaster and the instructors to supervise the students," the boy explained. At this point, Zack noticed that the boy, whose dark-brown hair was nicely combed and seemed to stand at the edge of his forehead on their own, was wearing a SeeD uniform. "Okay, let me start first. I'm Roger Carlo. You may call me Roger." He stretched out his hand to Zack. Zack stared at his hand, at first, before looking at Roger's face. Then, he grabbed it. "Hi, I'm Zack Nurvana. And you may call me Zack." "I'm Amber Rouge. It's nice to meet you, Roger." "Oh no, the pleasures all mine. I enjoy making new friends," Roger explained. "Well, so do I," Zack answered him. "That's good then!" Roger exclaimed. "So, tell us, what's going on? What are you all celebrating?" Amber asked. "Oh, we're celebrating the defeat of Sorceress Ultimecia!" Talking in his mind again, Zack realized, "I thought that scene with Irvine and Selphie was kind of suspicious." "Would you believe that she was from the future?" Roger asked the two. Amber was surprised, "Really?" "She tried to dominate the world by trying to make time compressed, which meant the past, present and future all squeeze into one time, where only she would have been able to survive." "Wow, that's amazing," Amber admired. "Yeah, but she was defeated by four of the garden's SeeD mercenaries. They were Squall Leonhart, who was the leader of the group, Quistis Trepe, a former instructor of the garden turned SeeD, Zell Dincht, the liveliest SeeD in the group, Selphie Tilmitt, the most energetic SeeD in the group. There were two other people from outside the garden who helped to defeat the sorceress. The two were Rinoa Heartilly, a rebel group leader from Timber and Irvine Kinneas, the sharpshooter from Galbadia Garden. Am I good or what?" Roger, feeling proud of himself. "Wow, do you think I'll be able to meet them?" Amber asked. "Why, of course! This celebration is mainly dedicated to them for defeating Sorceress Ultimecia! Hey, maybe I can help you to meet them now." "Oh, that would be great," Amber, feeling excited. She looks at Zack, "What do you think, Zack?" "Yeah, that would be really great." "Okay then, follow me," Roger, waving his hand, suggesting them to follow him. The two followed Roger into the crowd.
*********
A few minutes later, Roger calls out, "Yo, Irvine!" The man earlier, the one with the camera, turned around to see Roger, filming along the way everything that he sees. "Oh, hey there, Roger," he greeted, waving with his free hand. "Irvine, I would like you to meet Zack and Amber," Roger, introducing Irvine to Zack and Sophia. "Oh, hi there, you two," he greeted the two, filming them into the camera. Irvine was now wearing his black cowboy hat, Zack noticed. "It's nice to meet you, Irvine," Amber greeted. "Hey, any friend of Roger is a friend of mine!" "It's great to meet you, too," Zack then said. "Where's everyone else, Irvine?" Roger asked. "Oh, Squall and Rinoa are out at the balcony. Quistis is talking with some friends of hers. Selphie went off with her friends, too. And Zell's enjoying the special all-HE-can-eat hotdog buffet," Irvine, laughing at his joke about Zell. Roger joined him, as well. "Yup, that would definitely be Zell," Roger said. He looked at Zack and Amber, "You see, Zell really likes the hotdog served in the garden, but he always seems to have the same problem whenever he goes to the canteen to buy them. Try to guess what's the problem." "What was it?" Amber asked, curious. "Let me guess," Zack then said, "Hotdogs are sold out." Irvine and Roger laughed. "Right on, Zack!" Irvine exclaimed. Zack and Amber join them in their laugh. "Well, see you later, Irvine. I'm bringing these two to meet the others," Roger, starting to walk away. "See you again," Amber, following Roger from behind. "See you around!" Irvine said as they walked away. Irvine turned around and spotted a small group of young girls. When the girls looked over towards him, he waved at them. The girls giggled as he waved at them. Irvine then realized that he had filmed the girls and his waving hand on the camera. "Oh, oh. This won't be good, especially when Selphie finds out about this."
*********
Zack and Amber continue to follow Roger until they met up with Selphie, together with her friends. "Hey, Selphie!" Roger greeted. "Hi, Roger!" she greeted back before she saw Zack and Amber, "And who, may I know, are those two?" "Selphie meet Zack and Amber. Zack, Amber, meet Selphie." "Oh, so you've made more friends," Selphie said, "It's nice to meet you two." "It's nice to meet you, too, Selphie," Amber said. "Well, hope you enjoy this party. I'm sorry to just meet and leave but I've got some things to do with my friends. See ya!" she said before leaving the three with her friends. "It's all right. Bye," Amber told her. "See ya, Selphie!" Roger, waving at her as she left. He then faces Zack and Amber, "Well, let's go on to meet with the others." The three started to move again. However, they did not go far before they bumped into a woman with neatly tied, golden-brown hair. "Oh, Quistis, how've you been?" Roger greeted. "Just fine, Roger. But may I know who are the two friends that are behind you?" she said, looking at Zack and Amber. "Oh, this is Zack and Amber. Guys, this is Quistis." "It's nice to meet you, Quistis," Amber repeated the same line again. Quistis smiled and answered, "It's nice to meet you both." "So, where's Zell?" Roger asked. "He's still stuffing himself with hotdogs over near the buffet table," Quistis, laughing a little. Roger laughed also, "That's just like him, unable to settle his hunger for hotdogs." "Well, if it weren't for me and Selphie, his hunger for hotdogs may have ended soon enough," Quistis said, laughing again, louder this time. "Yeah, that's right," Roger, laughing, as well. He then turned to Zack and Amber as he explained, "Well, earlier tonight, as Zell was quickly chowing down on his hotdogs, he choked himself. He grabbed his cup of soda but it was empty. Luckily for him, Selphie and Quistis were there to help him, but the unfortunate part of it all was that Irvine was also there, filming every second of it. That embarrassed him, making him angry at the same time. He scared off Selphie and Quistis and threw a hotdog right at the camera that Irvine was holding. Luckily, it did not damage the camera." Roger laughed again when he was done. Quistis nodded as she continued, "I have to admit. He scared me and Selphie real good." "Well, be seeing you around, Quistis. We're off to meet Zell now," Roger said as he, Zack and Amber slowly walked for the buffet table. "See you around," Quistis answered.
*********
Zack and Amber followed Roger to the buffet table. From there, they could see Zell eating some more hotdogs at one of the nearby tables, but he had company, two of them. One of them was a teenage girl with long, black hair, which had some brown stripes, wearing a black dress with a blue over- wear, and the other was a young man with dark brown hair, wearing a black jacket over a white shirt. The man also had a scar across his face. They were sitting beside each other, watching Zell as he continued with his feast. "Squall, Rinoa," Zack thought. "Hey there, guys," Roger greeted the three. "Hi, Roger," Rinoa greeted, while Squall just waved. Zell, on the other hand, was too busy eating his hotdogs that he didn't bother to greet Roger. "I would like you all to meet Zack and Amber. Zack, Amber, this is Squall and Rinoa," Roger, introducing Zack and Amber to the couple and vice versa. "It's nice to meet you two," Amber greeted. "Same for us, too," Rinoa answered, smiling happily. Roger then turns to Zell, "And this fellow here. Well, you should already guess by now. He's Zell." Zell greeted the two, with his mouth full, "Um. Hi. Um." Everyone laughed at that, even Squall, although not that much. "Well, now, you've met all the heroes and heroines that defeated Sorceress Ultimecia," Roger announced, "But there is one thing that you should know about the two main hero and heroine." He points his thumb at Squall and Rinoa. "Everyone knows what they share with each other." Rinoa then stares at Squall as he stares back. "And that is love!" Roger continued as Rinoa leaned over to Squall and kissed him right on the lips. "How sweet!" Amber exclaimed. She then secretly whispered to Zack, "They kind of remind me of Cloud and Tifa." He whispered back, "Yeah, me too." "Oh, great! Miss it again!" suddenly the guys heard a man shouted. Just then, Irvine appeared out from the crowd with the camera in his hand. Everyone, including Irvine, laughs when they realized that Irvine missed filming Squall and Rinoa kissing. "Why don't you just ask them to kiss in front of the camera?" Amber asked Irvine. "Well, even if they agreed, it wouldn't be as heartfelt as they kiss on their own," Irvine explained. Everyone laughed at that, except Squall and Rinoa who just stared at each other, lovingly.
Tifa, RedXIII and Cinna did not have much trouble defeating Malboro. Yuffie, Cid and Cait Sith had a little trouble defeating the Iron Giant because of its tough armor. Cloud and Sephiroth were still fighting against each other, while Zack, Amber and everybody else regroup.
"Is everyone alright?" Tifa asked.
"Yes, we're all fine, Tifa," Cait Sith answered.
"Then let's go after Sephiroth!" Zack shouted as he charged towards where Cloud and Sephiroth were.
Cloud and Sephiroth are standing a short distance from each other. They were both staring fiercely at each other. Then, Sephiroth charges once again. Cloud was ready for him but then the sound of a gunshot surprised both Cloud and Sephiroth as a bullet flies pass in front of Sephiroth, stopping his charge. They both look up a small hill where Vincent stood with his gun, smoke coming out of it. Sephiroth was surprised again when suddenly a blade swished by him. He jumped back, the blade barely missing him by a few inches. Sephiroth lands on his feet a few distances away from Zack, who was the one that attacked him.
"That was close, Zack," Sephiroth admired to him. He glared at Zack, piercingly, "Too close."
"I guess it wasn't close enough," Zack, preparing himself for another attack.
Sephiroth looks at him, then he smiles and laughs, "You're stronger than I thought you would be, defeating my father. But he was a weakling himself."
Zack was angered by that and charged to strike him again, but Sephiroth jumped to the back again, dodging his attack. As he landed on his feet, everyone grouped around Zack. Now, Sephiroth stood just a few feet away from the whirling vortex. Looking at all of them, Sephiroth smiled slyly.
"Well, I'll be seeing you all in the other world. maybe!"
Everyone was surprised when he said that, but was to slow to stop him as he turned around and jumped into the vortex. Zack ran ahead of the group.
"Come on, let's go!" Zack continued running ahead, everyone else followed him from behind.
Zack stopped in front of the vortex. Amber joined him shortly when suddenly they heard a strange sound. They both turned around to see everyone dazed with shock. Cloud shook off his shock and walked forward but was suddenly pushed back by some force, followed by the sound again.
"Cloud!" Tifa shouted, concerned, as she ran to him.
"There seem to be some kind of force field around the vortex!" exclaimed Cait Sith. It walks over and bangs on the side of the force field, creating the sound again, "I don't think we can get through!"
Cait Sith looks at Zack and Amber as he continued, "You two would have to go into the vortex and to the other world without us."
Zack and Amber were shocked when they heard that.
Looking at each other, Zack then says, "I guess we've got no choice."
He faces towards Cloud and the others, "All right then! Hope that we will see each other again!"
"Good luck."
Everyone was surprised, as none of them had said that. Suddenly, a strange light-green light appeared near them. They were all surprised when a girl with long brown hair appeared from the light. She was wearing a pink dress and a small, thin, red jacket over it.
"Aries!" Zack thought in his mind, as he stared at the once flower girl from Midgar, Aries, in total surprise.
"Hi, guys," Aries greeted everyone, waving timidly.
"Aries! Wh-Why are you here?" Tifa, still surprised to see Aries.
"Oh, it's that vortex," Aries explained, looking at the vortex, "Something was disturbing the Promised Land and so I came to investigate and was surprised to find Sephiroth, together with a strange man in a dark-blue cape and this vortex."
"I continued watching them until you guys came," Aries continued, "And then, here I am."
She then looks at Zack and Amber, "Hi, I'm Aries Gainsborough. I hope I didn't frighten you two."
"No, it was all right with me," Zack answered.
"Me, too. Just surprised," Amber answered, too.
Aries then smiles at them, happily, "That's good. Well, good luck on your journey in the other world."
"Yeah, hope to see you all again. Bye," Zack said as he waved at them and turns to the vortex.
"It was really nice to meet you, Aries and I do hope to see you all again. So long," Amber, also waved before she turned to the vortex.
Zack looks at her, "Let's go."
She nodded, smiling in excitement. They both then jumped into the vortex. After disappearing in the vortex, Cloud and everybody else just stood still for a while.
Feeling a little dumb, Cid asks, "So. What do we do now?"
*********
In, what seems to be, an empty hallway, Zack and Amber suddenly appeared in a flash of light. They landed on the floor, hard. Both of them felt the impact.
"Ow." Zack uttered, feeling the pain at his bottom. He then looks at Amber, "You alright?"
"Yeah. ow. I'm fine," Amber answered, as she rubbed at her right knee.
"Your knee hurts?" Zack asked as he rushed to her.
"No, it's alright," Amber told him as he kneeled down, looking at her knee.
"Do you mind, um, if I take a look?" Zack asked her, his face turning red a little.
Since Amber was wearing long pants, Zack couldn't see how her knee was. Amber blushed in shyness.
"Um, uh, n-n-no," she answered shyly, turning her head away, trying to hide her blushing face.
Zack then slowly rolled up her right pant up til the top of her kneecap, which was just enough for him to see her hurt knee.
"It's burning red. If you leave it like that, it'll leave a bruise," Zack told her.
She was going to say that it was alright when Zack started to massage at the hurting part of her knee.
"Uh," Amber cried, feeling a little pain as Zack was massaging her knee.
"Was it too hard?"
"N-No, it's all right. I'm fine."
"Well, we shouldn't leave your knee like this. Like I said, it'll leave a bruise if we do."
When Amber nodded in agreement, Zack continued massaging her knee. Amber just smiled timidly, her face blushing, as she shyly watched Zack. A few minutes later, Zack rolled Amber's pant back down. Her knee has gotten less redder than it was before.
"Thank you, Zack," Amber said timidly, still blushing.
He then blushes, too. He turns his head away, trying to hide his face.
"Um, uh, y-you're welcome."
Amber then stood up and started looking around. When he realized that, he also stood up.
"Where do you think we are, Zack?"
"I'm not sure."
Zack continued looking around as he started to think to himself again, "This looks a little familiar. If I'm not wrong, this just might be."
He faces to Amber, "Let's go to the end of that hallway, Amber. Maybe we'll get an idea where we are."
"Okay," Amber agreed.
They then ran to the end of the hallway. There, they looked around.
"Yup, I was right," Zack thought.
They were now looking at the center of Balamb Garden.
==========
CHAPTER VII (B): THE NEW CHARACTERS
Zack and Amber are wandering around to the left wing of the garden, where they could see three wide doorways that led to different rooms. As they were wandering, they hear music coming from one of the rooms. They looked towards the room. "Looks like there are people there," Amber said, "They seem to be celebrating or having a party." "Let's find out," Zack said as he walked towards the room, as Amber followed from behind. When they entered the room, they looked around. The room was huge and had a giant chandelier hanging in the middle of it. Most of the people in the room seemed to be in uniform. Zack could recognize some of them to be SeeD uniforms, but he didn't tell Amber. He didn't want her to be suspicious of him for knowing about this world. Just then, they heard someone, "Aw, great! Batteries down!" They turned to see who was it. It was a tall young man with long brown hair, which was tied with a thin band. He was wearing a brown overcoat. He was holding a video camera in his hand. "Just when they were getting to the best part!" the man continued. "That is bad!" a girl in a yellow dress shouted as she rushed over to the man. The girl had short, shiny, brown hair that curls up at the end. She was wearing a black cowboy hat. "Here're some batteries," she continued, passing some batteries to the man.
"What a bad timing for the batteries to run out," the man said as he put in the new batteries into the camera, "I guess we'll just have to get it next time." "Irvine? Selphie?" Zack thought as he watched them. "Hey, I've never seen you two before. Are you two new students?" Both Zack and Amber were surprised when a young boy suddenly appeared. "Oh, I know what you're thinking. How would I be sure if I've never seen you two before since there are about over hundreds or, maybe even, a few thousand students in this garden? But I'm quite sociable. I like to make new friends. And also, I help the headmaster and the instructors to supervise the students," the boy explained. At this point, Zack noticed that the boy, whose dark-brown hair was nicely combed and seemed to stand at the edge of his forehead on their own, was wearing a SeeD uniform. "Okay, let me start first. I'm Roger Carlo. You may call me Roger." He stretched out his hand to Zack. Zack stared at his hand, at first, before looking at Roger's face. Then, he grabbed it. "Hi, I'm Zack Nurvana. And you may call me Zack." "I'm Amber Rouge. It's nice to meet you, Roger." "Oh no, the pleasures all mine. I enjoy making new friends," Roger explained. "Well, so do I," Zack answered him. "That's good then!" Roger exclaimed. "So, tell us, what's going on? What are you all celebrating?" Amber asked. "Oh, we're celebrating the defeat of Sorceress Ultimecia!" Talking in his mind again, Zack realized, "I thought that scene with Irvine and Selphie was kind of suspicious." "Would you believe that she was from the future?" Roger asked the two. Amber was surprised, "Really?" "She tried to dominate the world by trying to make time compressed, which meant the past, present and future all squeeze into one time, where only she would have been able to survive." "Wow, that's amazing," Amber admired. "Yeah, but she was defeated by four of the garden's SeeD mercenaries. They were Squall Leonhart, who was the leader of the group, Quistis Trepe, a former instructor of the garden turned SeeD, Zell Dincht, the liveliest SeeD in the group, Selphie Tilmitt, the most energetic SeeD in the group. There were two other people from outside the garden who helped to defeat the sorceress. The two were Rinoa Heartilly, a rebel group leader from Timber and Irvine Kinneas, the sharpshooter from Galbadia Garden. Am I good or what?" Roger, feeling proud of himself. "Wow, do you think I'll be able to meet them?" Amber asked. "Why, of course! This celebration is mainly dedicated to them for defeating Sorceress Ultimecia! Hey, maybe I can help you to meet them now." "Oh, that would be great," Amber, feeling excited. She looks at Zack, "What do you think, Zack?" "Yeah, that would be really great." "Okay then, follow me," Roger, waving his hand, suggesting them to follow him. The two followed Roger into the crowd.
*********
A few minutes later, Roger calls out, "Yo, Irvine!" The man earlier, the one with the camera, turned around to see Roger, filming along the way everything that he sees. "Oh, hey there, Roger," he greeted, waving with his free hand. "Irvine, I would like you to meet Zack and Amber," Roger, introducing Irvine to Zack and Sophia. "Oh, hi there, you two," he greeted the two, filming them into the camera. Irvine was now wearing his black cowboy hat, Zack noticed. "It's nice to meet you, Irvine," Amber greeted. "Hey, any friend of Roger is a friend of mine!" "It's great to meet you, too," Zack then said. "Where's everyone else, Irvine?" Roger asked. "Oh, Squall and Rinoa are out at the balcony. Quistis is talking with some friends of hers. Selphie went off with her friends, too. And Zell's enjoying the special all-HE-can-eat hotdog buffet," Irvine, laughing at his joke about Zell. Roger joined him, as well. "Yup, that would definitely be Zell," Roger said. He looked at Zack and Amber, "You see, Zell really likes the hotdog served in the garden, but he always seems to have the same problem whenever he goes to the canteen to buy them. Try to guess what's the problem." "What was it?" Amber asked, curious. "Let me guess," Zack then said, "Hotdogs are sold out." Irvine and Roger laughed. "Right on, Zack!" Irvine exclaimed. Zack and Amber join them in their laugh. "Well, see you later, Irvine. I'm bringing these two to meet the others," Roger, starting to walk away. "See you again," Amber, following Roger from behind. "See you around!" Irvine said as they walked away. Irvine turned around and spotted a small group of young girls. When the girls looked over towards him, he waved at them. The girls giggled as he waved at them. Irvine then realized that he had filmed the girls and his waving hand on the camera. "Oh, oh. This won't be good, especially when Selphie finds out about this."
*********
Zack and Amber continue to follow Roger until they met up with Selphie, together with her friends. "Hey, Selphie!" Roger greeted. "Hi, Roger!" she greeted back before she saw Zack and Amber, "And who, may I know, are those two?" "Selphie meet Zack and Amber. Zack, Amber, meet Selphie." "Oh, so you've made more friends," Selphie said, "It's nice to meet you two." "It's nice to meet you, too, Selphie," Amber said. "Well, hope you enjoy this party. I'm sorry to just meet and leave but I've got some things to do with my friends. See ya!" she said before leaving the three with her friends. "It's all right. Bye," Amber told her. "See ya, Selphie!" Roger, waving at her as she left. He then faces Zack and Amber, "Well, let's go on to meet with the others." The three started to move again. However, they did not go far before they bumped into a woman with neatly tied, golden-brown hair. "Oh, Quistis, how've you been?" Roger greeted. "Just fine, Roger. But may I know who are the two friends that are behind you?" she said, looking at Zack and Amber. "Oh, this is Zack and Amber. Guys, this is Quistis." "It's nice to meet you, Quistis," Amber repeated the same line again. Quistis smiled and answered, "It's nice to meet you both." "So, where's Zell?" Roger asked. "He's still stuffing himself with hotdogs over near the buffet table," Quistis, laughing a little. Roger laughed also, "That's just like him, unable to settle his hunger for hotdogs." "Well, if it weren't for me and Selphie, his hunger for hotdogs may have ended soon enough," Quistis said, laughing again, louder this time. "Yeah, that's right," Roger, laughing, as well. He then turned to Zack and Amber as he explained, "Well, earlier tonight, as Zell was quickly chowing down on his hotdogs, he choked himself. He grabbed his cup of soda but it was empty. Luckily for him, Selphie and Quistis were there to help him, but the unfortunate part of it all was that Irvine was also there, filming every second of it. That embarrassed him, making him angry at the same time. He scared off Selphie and Quistis and threw a hotdog right at the camera that Irvine was holding. Luckily, it did not damage the camera." Roger laughed again when he was done. Quistis nodded as she continued, "I have to admit. He scared me and Selphie real good." "Well, be seeing you around, Quistis. We're off to meet Zell now," Roger said as he, Zack and Amber slowly walked for the buffet table. "See you around," Quistis answered.
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Zack and Amber followed Roger to the buffet table. From there, they could see Zell eating some more hotdogs at one of the nearby tables, but he had company, two of them. One of them was a teenage girl with long, black hair, which had some brown stripes, wearing a black dress with a blue over- wear, and the other was a young man with dark brown hair, wearing a black jacket over a white shirt. The man also had a scar across his face. They were sitting beside each other, watching Zell as he continued with his feast. "Squall, Rinoa," Zack thought. "Hey there, guys," Roger greeted the three. "Hi, Roger," Rinoa greeted, while Squall just waved. Zell, on the other hand, was too busy eating his hotdogs that he didn't bother to greet Roger. "I would like you all to meet Zack and Amber. Zack, Amber, this is Squall and Rinoa," Roger, introducing Zack and Amber to the couple and vice versa. "It's nice to meet you two," Amber greeted. "Same for us, too," Rinoa answered, smiling happily. Roger then turns to Zell, "And this fellow here. Well, you should already guess by now. He's Zell." Zell greeted the two, with his mouth full, "Um. Hi. Um." Everyone laughed at that, even Squall, although not that much. "Well, now, you've met all the heroes and heroines that defeated Sorceress Ultimecia," Roger announced, "But there is one thing that you should know about the two main hero and heroine." He points his thumb at Squall and Rinoa. "Everyone knows what they share with each other." Rinoa then stares at Squall as he stares back. "And that is love!" Roger continued as Rinoa leaned over to Squall and kissed him right on the lips. "How sweet!" Amber exclaimed. She then secretly whispered to Zack, "They kind of remind me of Cloud and Tifa." He whispered back, "Yeah, me too." "Oh, great! Miss it again!" suddenly the guys heard a man shouted. Just then, Irvine appeared out from the crowd with the camera in his hand. Everyone, including Irvine, laughs when they realized that Irvine missed filming Squall and Rinoa kissing. "Why don't you just ask them to kiss in front of the camera?" Amber asked Irvine. "Well, even if they agreed, it wouldn't be as heartfelt as they kiss on their own," Irvine explained. Everyone laughed at that, except Squall and Rinoa who just stared at each other, lovingly.