Rinoa Heartilly, formerly Rinoa Caraway, disembarked the train and found herself once again at Galbadia station. It had been a very long time since she'd last been here. Frantic with worry and a little scared, she stood alone on the platform as busy people pushed and shoved past her. She was surprised how many people were around at this time of night – well, morning – but Deling City was always bustling with life.

She gulped, clutched onto her bag strap tightly and felt her feet carry her towards the escalators that would take her upwards to the world outside. When she had reached the street, she felt tears well up in her eyes.

What am I doing here? She thought. I can't even remember where to go…

Rinoa breathed a sigh of relief as she spotted a cluster of people making their way to a bus station, just as one of the heavy, tank-like Deling buses rolled up and stopped with a slight slide of it's tyres.

"This bus stops at the Shopping Arcade and Caraway's Mansion," the guard nearby said as people began boarding it eagerly. "Shopping Arcade and Caraway's Mansion."

In a hurry, Rinoa jogged over and pulled herself up into the tiny bus. Paying her 15 gil, she then took a seat right at the front and very close to the door. The bus doors slid shut with a wet squeak from the rain and the bus trundled on, to its first destination.

After chugging noisily through the shopping arcade, where no one got off – everywhere except the hotel was closed – the bus ground to a halt outside Caraway's mansion … Rinoa's old home. She had lived there until she was 16, when she had gone on a wild, rebellious protest against her father; moving in with the Timber Owls, coming up with crazy plans, employing SeeDs…

As the other bus passengers went their various other ways, Rinoa was the only one to stay anywhere near the great mansion. With a sick, nervous feeling, she took in a deep breath to compose herself, and began walking up the path.

What am I going to say? She wondered. Back at the base, she had acted too quickly to even really think about what would happen when she got to Galbadia.

But only then, in the darkness, did Rinoa notice that the mansion looked different from before. The windows were boarded up with soggy, moss covered wood. Rusty nails held a board across the once grand doorway. Everywhere there lay broken glass, weeds, old newspapers and bits of rubbish. It was obvious to anyone that there no longer was anybody living in this house.

Feeling very ill, Rinoa rushed back down the path and grabbed the first person that came along.

"Excuse me," Rinoa panted, wiping her slightly damp fringe from her eyes. "Can you tell me where General Caraway lives, please?"

The young woman looked at Rinoa with confusion. "Are you kiddin', girl? Not from around here, are ya?"

"Please, just tell me!" Rinoa burst with desperation.

"Awright, calm down little lady," the woman said, brushing down the collar of her jacket, which Rinoa had just grabbed. "General Caraway died last month."

The sentence echoed in Rinoa's mind as her heart seemed to stop beating. As those five innocent words crept into her ears, she knew she would be hearing them forever.

"Yep. Was killed by Esthar soldiers, after he wouldn't tell them where his daughter was hidin'. You know Rinoa Heartilly, right? From the Ultimecia War? Well, she's a Sorceress, right, and that what's-her-name … Ellone Liore, that's it. The President of Esthar … well, she obviously wants that Rinoa dead for some reason or another. Damn, girly. Have you been living on the Moon for the past six months or somethin'?"

Rinoa couldn't reply, as she roughly pushed the helpful woman out of the way and was violently sick in the road.

At the Deling City hotel bar, Seifer Almasy was eagerly unwrapping a candy bar.

"I don't know how you can eat junk," Irvine Kinneas commented as he lifted his glass up to his mouth.

"Man, right now I'm so hungry I could eat a whole Malboro – tentacles an' all."

"…Ew."

Irvine and Seifer, during their travel across half the world to get from the Deep Sea Research Centre to Deling City, had quickly bonded and formed an odd friendship. They didn't need to talk too heavily or deeply; they just kind of understood each other's situation. Irvine could see that Seifer had changed, and even though he used to be a sniper, Irvine was not evil and murderous in his nature – if someone needed help, he'd help them out.

Meanwhile Seifer, who hadn't got the time to get to know Irvine very well in the first place, had decided that Irvine was one of the best and safest people to be around. Seifer would be forever grateful for Irvine's rescue – he had saved his life.

As it turned out, Irvine had worked out what to do no further than arriving at Deling City and having a drink in the hotel bar. He assumed they would get rooms, chill out for a bit, just catch up on news and relax…Then, he suddenly realised. He wouldn't be able to visit Galbadia Garden, where he spent so many years … the man sitting right beside him had destroyed it in a ruthless Garden War. So why didn't Irvine feel angry? Because they'd all been through so much? Because, even though they'd both forgotten, Seifer and Irvine grew up together…?

As Seifer crammed the last of the bar into his mouth, Irvine put his thoughts to the back of his mind and set down his glass casually.

"Well, it's getting late," he announced. "Guess we should call it a day."

"You did get us separate rooms, right?" Seifer asked suspiciously with an eyebrow raised. Irvine laughed loudly.

"Of course I did! C'mon," he gestured for Seifer to stand up and follow him as the two young men made their way up the slightly spiralled staircase, out of the dimly lit bar and into the brightness of the hotel reception. As Irvine lifted his arms up behind his back and let out a large yawn, Seifer stopped dead in his tracks and gave Irvine a hard pinch on his arm.

"Ouch! What'd-"

Irvine stopped talking almost as abruptly as Seifer had stopped walking. Directly in front of them, slouching casually and talking sweetly and politely, was a raven-haired girl with scruffy clothes and a large bag. She was speaking to the short woman at the reception desk.

"Yes, just a single please," she was saying, and the voice rocketed into Irvine and Seifer's heads. It was her, no doubt about it. The woman on the other side of the counter said something inaudible.

Rinoa let out an embarrassed, nervous laugh. "Oh, right, my purse … um, 300 gil, was it? … Um, sorry … I know it's round her somewhere, I – I just got the bus, you see, so I do have money with me…"

Her cheeks became tinted in a rose colour as she fumbled about with her coat and trouser pockets, before zipping open her bag.

Before Irvine could grab his arm and stop him, Seifer had stepped forward with a wad of notes in his hand.

"I'll get this for the young lady," he nodded to the receptionist politely. Rinoa, her fringe fallen in front of her eyes, didn't see who it was. Thinking it was some sort of sleazy admirer who had followed her in off the street, she began protesting thankfully.

"Oh, no, that's quite alright, really, I mean, thank you, but I've got the money, I was planning on staying somewhere else tonight, but things haven't gone to plan, you see, so anyway, I'm sure my purse is right-"

A kind, gentle hand on her shoulder was the only thing that made her look up, and it was a memorable touch that sent shivers down her spine and the hairs on the end of her neck stood up. Only then did she push her hair out of the way and look at him, the blonde-haired man who was gazing down at her from his tall height with piercing icy blue eyes.

As Rinoa felt the sickening feeling rise up into her throat again, she promptly whirled round, grabbed onto the nearest thing in front of her - a plant pot - and retched noisily into it.