A/n: This might come as a shock to all of you, but I haven't magically acquired FF8 or 4400 since the last chapter. I still don't own them. Alright, we're good

Chapter Four: Readjusting

Maybe it was the awkwardness of being around his friends that lead Squall to spend most of his time in the infirmary with Quistis or talking to Rinny over the internet.

"Why are you still in quarantine?" he asked, staring at the camera on the screen. Rinny was the only vibrant thing in the D-District prison, a spot of color against a sea of dark and greyness.

"Where am I gonna go?" she laughed weakly. "Home? Methinks not."

"It's so…dead there. You didn't get to enjoy your life in your own time, and you're still trapped in there."

"Mweh," she smiled. "I deal."

"You should come to Garden," he said suddenly. "I'm sure you'd love to meet Rinoa, right?"

"And am I going to walk to this Balamb that I've never even heard of?"

"…I'll ask Cid if you can come and I'll talk to you later."

"And this is the infirmary—like a hospital," Seifer said. "If you feel sick, go here, okay?"

"…one of your friends will be here soon," Lisette said calmly. "But not me."

"Uh…yeah," he blinked, then smiled. "Well, welcome to Garden! There's a few kids here your age, you could be friends with them. See?" he pointed over to a group of kids playing Triple Triad. "There's some there!"

"Okay," she said quietly, going over and joining them.

Seifer sighed. Well, that bought him some time. Now he'd have to go find some uniforms for her, maybe a toy or two. He hadn't realized how much responsibility a child came with.

"She's cute," Fujin smiled, appearing behind him randomly like she had always been so good at. "One of the 4400?"

"Yeah. One of the oldest ones—disappeared in 1952."

"Who was the oldest?" Fujin asked with interest.

"This girl who looks just like Rinoa looked like at 17. 1928ish was when she left."

"Wouldn't Lisette's parents be alive? 1952 wasn't all that long ago."

"I think they died in the Lunar Cry," Seifer informed her.

"It's a shame," she sighed. "That was very generous of you to take her, though."

"Um…thanks."

"…it's been a long 6 years."

He looked to Fujin. As children, she'd always hoped to outgrow him in age. He'd laughed because he understood the impossibility of it. Every time she had a birthday, she'd announce she was closer, forgetting he had a birthday too. She couldn't comprehend that at the time, but he did.

…however, now she'd gotten her wish.

"You don't know the half of it, Fujin."

"Xu? Selphie?"

"Yessir," Xu saluted Cid, looking around his disastrous office. She'd really have to get cleaning on it, sometime when he wouldn't notice. All the dust was killing her.

"Reporting for duty, sir!" Selphie beamed, following suit.

"…we're putting some investigation on this 4400 case," Cid informed them.

"Can't we just be happy that everyone's back and safe?" Selphie sighed.

"Look at it this way, Selph'," Xu explained, realizing she had to talk Selphie back into this. She wanted to look into the case out of pure curiosity, if nothing else, and if Selphie wouldn't agree, Cid might change his mind. "By investigating it, we can explain what happened to the poor, confused people AND prevent it from happening again."

"I'm in," Selphie nodded.

"So what we're going to do," Cid said, "is send you two to join a special task force for only this job. You two will represent Balamb. There will also be two for Galbadia Garden, one for Trabia garden, and two from the governments of Esthar, Balamb, and Galbadia. The Shumi might be sending a representative too, although I'm not sure about that. They're not really that connected with everything that happened, and I'm not sure if any of the 4400 were from their village or not. However, that only makes 10 people, if they send as many as they plan on. If it is ten, though, that's only 10 to take care of 4400 people. That's 440 per person."

"I'm sure it will expand as needed," Xu nodded, knowing it would. It would never survive with such a small number.

"Well, it's centered in Centra, near where it actually happened. Well, sort of. It's a little more hidden, kind of hard to get too, but nothing the Ragnarok can't handle. However, you two are under any circumstances not to mention this unless it involves putting your life in danger."

"No problem, sir!" Selphie beamed.

"It's an honor, sir," Xu saluted him.

"You begin tomorrow. The specifics and exact location are on the Ragnarok. You'll probably need to leave by 7 in the morning."

"We'll be there," they chorused in unison.

"You're dismissed," Cid smiled, and they walked out.

a/n: I hope you're enjoying this so far. Right now, I'm desperately trying to think of a better title. I didn't have one when I submitted it, so I just randomly threw something down…and it sucks --; Or does it? O.o If you all like it, I'll keep it, but if someone has a better suggestion, I'd uber-appreciate it XD

love and peace,

xifa