The group of four exited the stone orphanage with Zell prancing ahead. Squall remained attached to Ellone, while Edea brought up the rear. The group left the location of the orphanage and headed to the beach. Edea kept her sorceress powers attuned to locate any approaching monster, as she led the children to the beach. It was late in the morning and all of the monsters should have had their share of breakfast. Zell ran to the water's edge and turned around to look at Edea. "Matwyn, can we go swimmin'?" The little boy asked.
"Yes, Zell." Edea said. "But be careful. There may be monsters in there."
"I'll be ok." Zell said. "I'll just call Sis. She'll help me."
Ellone, slowly, let go of Squall's hand and ran over to the water's edge with Zell. "Of course! I'll beat up all of those monsters, just like Uncle Laguna did!" She bragged.
Full of confidence, Zell leaped into the water, splashing it onto Ellone. "Hey," She shouted. "I'll get you for that!"
With that, Ellone jumped into the water and began chasing Zell around in circles. Squall stood in the same place where Ellone had let go of his hand. He watched as Ellone chased Zell around the beach. Zell began screaming and swimming as fast as he could. Squall laughed at Zell's little screams, and then ran over to the water's edge. He waited until Zell swam in closer to shore, and then leapt into the water, dunking Zell underneath. Squall surfaced the water and blew water out of his nose. Shortly after, Zell popped up out of the water, hair flattened by the weight of the water. He spat water out of his mouth, and then shouted, "Not fair! You cheated!"
Ellone and Squall just laughed at Zell's attitude. "What do you say, Squall?" Ellone asked. "He's says it's not fair. We should dunk him for that."
Zell's face lit up in surprise. Squall smiled at Ellone, as he said, "Let's do it."
As Ellone and Squall started their pursuit, Zell took off swimming to avoid capture. "Please, no! I didn't mean it!" Zell spat through mouthfuls of water.
"It didn't seem like you didn't mean it. Right, Squall?" Ellone shouted over the splashing.
"Right." Squall nodded.
The chase continued on for an hour, until the three children started getting tired. They stood in waist high water, huffing and trying to get their breaths back. Squall's huffing stopped, suddenly, as he stared down into the water. "What's wrong?" Zell asked from in front of the brown haired boy.
"Something swam past my leg." Squall said.
Ellone grabbed Squall's arm and began leading him into shore. "Let's get out of here." She said, waving Zell into shore, as well.
Just then, Squall fell into the water, face first. When Ellone pulled him back up, he was crying, frantically. Edea heard his crying and used her powers to lift the three children out of the water and back onto dry land. Squall remained in his crying state, as Edea ran over to him. "What's wrong, Squall?" She asked, kneeling down beside the boy.
Squall cried, as he clutched his right leg. Edea pushed up his pant leg and examined his leg. There was a bite mark extending from Squall's knee to the middle of his calf. Edea examined the wound further and said to herself, "Looks like it was done by a Fastitocalon."
Calmly, Edea waved her hand over the wound and the wound closed itself up. She, then, pulled Squall's pant leg back to its original position. "Do you feel better?" She asked.
Squall wiped away his tears and nodded his head. Ellone helped him to his feet, and then looked to Edea. "Can we go back now?" The young girl asked.
"Yes. Let us go back, Ellone. It is lunch time anyway." Edea nodded.
Ellone began leading Squall back to the orphanage. Zell watched her leave, and then shouted, "Hey, don't leave me!"
The blonde boy ran up to Ellone's free hand and held onto it. Squall looked over at the blonde with jealous eyes. He jumped in front of Ellone to get a clear shot at Zell, and then swatted the blonde's hand out of Ellone's. Tears began rolling down Zell's cheeks, as he held onto his swatted hand. "Squall, what's gotten into you?" Edea asked.
Squall just held onto Ellone's hand, like he would never let go. "I see." Edea said.
Then, the woman offered her hand to Zell. "It's alright, Zell. Come on. Let us go eat lunch." She said.
Zell took the older woman's hand, still crying. "But I wanna be with Sis." He cried.
"I know you do, Zell. But, Squall wants to be with her now." Edea said.
"But he's always with her." Zell cried.
Edea remained quiet, as she started off to the orphanage behind Ellone and Squall.
* * * * * * * * * * *
The day continued on once Zell had forgotten what Squall had done to him. The children laughed and played, while the troublemakers cleaned up after the others and stayed in their designated corners. When night fell upon the orphanage once again, each of the children changed out of their dirty clothes and into their pajamas. They were all tucked in by Edea, Cid, and Ellone, who then climbed into bed herself. Edea said 'good night' as she left the room, followed by Cid, who shut off the light. Cid followed Edea to their room and climbed into his own bed, just as Edea climbed into hers. They, both, said 'good night' to each other, and then drifted off to sleep one after another. As soon as Edea felt herself slipping into sleep mode, everything went black. As she stared off into nothingness, Edea heard the voice of a man. Then, the darkness fazed away and revealed a blue room that was filled with unknown technology. Inside, there was a heavyset man wearing a bandana, a white tanktop, and army green pants. A thinner man with black hair and brown skin was translating him. They were referring to Edea as 'Laguna'. The two men were talking about Laguna's behavior as president. 'Laguna' was dazing off, wondering if Ellone was safe. "What do you think, Laguna?" The dark man asked.
"Hm?" Laguna said. "Oh, yeah. Sure, sure."
After Laguna said that, Edea was thrust back into darkness. She, suddenly, heard the voice of a young child. "Uncle Laguna…" The child said.
"…Ellone?" Edea asked.
"…Matron?" Ellone asked.
"Ellone... what is this?"
"I don't know."
"I see. Is this the first time this happened?"
"Yes."
"Ok. It's alright, Ellone." Edea said. "Do you hear me? Ellone? Ellone!"
The darkness faded away and Edea was back in her bed. She looked around, and then climbed out of her bed and ran to the children's room. Once there, she looked over at Ellone, who was sitting up in her bed. Edea walked over to her bed and sat down on the edge. "Ellone… did that really happen?" She asked.
"Yes." Ellone answered.
"And you don't know what it is?"
Ellone shook her head, as she curled into a ball. Edea looked down at the floor, collecting her thoughts. "Why don't you try to go back to sleep? I'll figure this out for you." She said, looking back to Ellone.
"…Okay, Matron." Ellone agreed, still curled into a ball.