It was midnight. Rinoa woke up, switched on her bedside lamp and looked around her bedroom. The rain outside had subdued and all she could hear was a quiet pitter patter. Looking down at herself, she saw that her bed sheets had been pulled tightly over her. Zone must have tucked her in. He did that a lot these days, when Rinoa used to fall asleep suddenly, still wearing her clothes. She was thankful to see that he hadn't undressed her – because Rinoa had a plan.

She had thought about it after she had had her vivid flashback, when she made her wish on the balcony. What have I been doing all these months? she had wondered. This isn't like me. I miss the Garden. I miss Quistis, Irvine, Selphie, Zell … Squall. I miss being happy.

Slowly and quietly, Rinoa pulled back her bed covers and stood up. She picked up a pretty hand mirror that lay on her desk and gazed into it, staring at her tear-streaked cheeks and puffy red eyes.

I have to go to see my father, she told herself. I have to get my life back on track. I'm going to Galbadia.

As soon as this thought entered her head, Rinoa had a sudden coughing attack – the kind she was so use to these days. Wheezing and spluttering, she collapsed onto her knees and dropped the mirror. It smashed into tiny pieces and she had to cling onto her desk with both hands for support. As she did, the ring that she wore on a chain around her neck poked out from her shirt. She clung onto it desperately while finding the strength to rummage around in a desk drawer. Finally she found what she needed, and pulled out the Griever charm. Holding it to her neck, the coughing vanished almost instantly. Her neck felt comfortably warm, and she gave a sigh of relief. She felt alright again now.

Rinoa didn't know why Squall's Griever charm soothed her so much. She imagined that maybe it was an enchanted item, like Dr Odine's bangles - just like the one she had tried to trick a powerful Sorceress into wearing, once upon a time…

No time to think about that now, she told herself with determination. It's all in the past.

Rinoa listened carefully for any movement, hoping that neither Zone nor Watts had heard her coughing. It didn't appear they had, as she heard Zone's loud snores coming steadily from the next room, and Watts muttering to himself in his sleep, completely undisturbed. The Forest Owls had once been a large group, and at one point in time they were the only active resistance members in Timber – but that was a long time ago. Now it was just a dying Sorceress and her two life-long friends. But Rinoa simply had nowhere else in the world to go, and Zone and Watts were hardly going to give up their resistance heritage. Not after both their fathers, who were founders of the Timber Owls, had died for their cause.

Gently opening her large cupboard door, Rinoa reached in and pulled out a selection of clothes, stuffing them untidily into a plain black bag. She grabbed a few other things – a hairbrush, cosmetics, and other girly bits and bobs – and that was when she noticed something right in the back of her wardrobe. It was her light blue duster, wrapped over over a black vest and stonewashed denim skirt … her old battle outfit. The war costume that had seen so much bloodshed. Even her pinwheel sat at the bottom of her wardrobe, dusty and lonely. For a split second she considered bringing it with her, then decided that she could hardly bare to look at it, let alone use it again. Even if she did get attacked by monsters on the way there – which was unlikely at this day and age, as the last Lunar Cry had been the one Rinoa had experienced, during the War – no weapon could do any significant amount of damage. Not in the state she was in. Neither did she possess any magic, and of course the GFs she once used had all been returned to Garden, straight after the War.

Content she had everything she needed, Rinoa slipped on a comfy coat and opened her bedroom door as quietly as she could, before proceeding into the main cabin of the Timber Owls base. Once a room for strategy meetings, and a place to store clippings about the President Vinzer Deling, it had now been converted into a living room of sorts. There was a fridge, comfy chairs, a small television and lots of colourful posters adorning the walls. Only then did it hit Rinoa just how long she had stayed in her bedroom. She felt like she hadn't been in this room for years.

Walking over to the fridge, she opened it and took what few scraps were there, then tore a sheet of decorated paper from a nearby pad, pick up a pen and scribbled an urgent note – an explanation for Zone and Watts. She felt that she owed them at least that much after all they had done for her. Setting it under a magnet on the fridge, she adjusted the shoulder straps on her bag.

I'm ready, she thought, and turned on her heel to leave the base and step out into the cold, dark nght.

"Zone and Watts,
I have decided to travel to Deling City, to see my father, General Caraway. Please do not come after me. I don't know when I'll be back, but I'll make sure to find a way to contact you. So please don't worry about me any longer.
Love, Rinoa."