The voices are saying "Respond to the reviewers!"

jasmine32: Yeah, I thought the first contract seemed a little pointless.

QueenAdreena: I start typing a chapter once I see that I've gotten a review for the last one. And being somewhat motivated to write. I guess that's why I update so fast.

JadeAlmasy: A promise it is! You read to the end, and I'll write till then.

lady-rinoa: I throw in my own stuff only when I see necessary. As for the story itself, you know what they say. "If it aint broke, don't fix it."

CHAPTER 13: PEACE AMBASSADOR

"Bad news guys," Rinoa said as she, Squall, Zell, and Selphie left the train. "The local trains are down, so we have to walk to the TV station."

"How far is it?" Squall asked.

"If the Pub owner will let us use the back alley, we can get there pretty fast." Rinoa said. With that, they headed towards the pub, Rinoa leading the way. However, there were two Galbadian soldiers blocking the door to the Pub, forcing Squall and the others to get down.

"For a country bumpkin, he sure had some good stuff," one of the soldiers said.

"Better ease off a little," the other told him, "these Timber hicks hate us enough as it is." However, the first soldier noticed Squall and the others, and already knew how they tried to kidnap Deling.

"Let's get 'em!" he said. However, with the speed Squall and Zell had thanks to the GFs, the solders went down quickly. Squall picked up a bus pass from one of the soldiers. Once inside, there was a drunken man screaming his head off about not being able to leave Timber. Squall approached him and handed him the bus pass, which turned out to be the drunks, before being granted access to the back alley. Back there was a catwalk, which passed by a giant TV screen on its way to the TV station.

"Whoa, an outdoor TV?" Zell asked.

"The president is in the studio, surrounded by guards, so we can't just storm the place," Rinoa said to herself.

"Don't worry about us," Squall told her," We'll fight your enemies based on your decision, that's our duty."

"We're SeeD's," Selphie said, "We have to be ready for anything and everything."

"You tell us to go, and we go," Zell added, "Even if it's a losing battle."

"How sad," Rinoa said, "Act on my decision, that's your duty? Oh, what an easy life it must be just to follow orders."

"We just want to help you achieve your goal, though with this plan, I don't think its possible." Squall said.

"What do you mean?" Rinoa said, getting squinty eyed at Squall.

"How serious are you? Really?" Squall asked. "The three of you don't need to plop down on the floor to strategize, then, you can't even make a decision without our input. How do you think we feel?"

"Dude, lighten up on her." Zell said. Squall turned and looked away from Zell and Rinoa.

"Fine, we'll cancel the plan and disperse for now." Rinoa said, "We don't stand a chance if we take on all those soldiers head on. But on a personal note, we're serious about achieving Timbers independence. So serious, it hurts." Rinoa ran off, back to the train, leaving the SeeDs on standby. A few seconds later, the giant TV screen came to life, showing a podium with two Galbadian flags, one on each side. A heavy set man walked up to the podium and began to speak.

"People of the world. Can you hear me? Can you see me?" The man asked. "This is not a recording, this is an actual live broadcast over the air! The first live broadcast in 17 years! Ladies and Gentlemen, today we would like to present a message to you. Here to deliver the message is the leader of Galbadia. President Vinzer Deling!" The Galbadian national anthem began to play as Deling approached the podium.

"Greetings, I am President Deling." he said. "Today, I would like to make the following proposition. We, the people of this world, have the power to end all wars."

"See, it IS a peace proposal, I knew it." Selphie squealed.

"Unfortunately, there are some trifling problems between Galbadia and other nations, and they must be resolved." Deling said. His attention was pulled away when he heard a window break, but then dismissed it as nothing.

"I plan to convene with other nations leaders immediately to resolve these problems." He said. "At this time, I would like to introduce my peace ambassador."

"Man, all this for some stupid ambassador?" Zell asked himself.

"The ambassador is the Sorceress..." Deling began, but never got to finish as a Galbadian soldier flew into the podium. Next thing Deling knew, there was a gunblade being held to his neck.

"Seifer!" Zell said as he saw Seifer holding his gunblade to Delings throat.

"Stay back," another voice said, that of Squalls former instructor, Quistis. "You're only going to provoke him!"

"What do we do?" Zell asked.

"Nothing, our job is to assist the forest owls." Squall said.

"Timber team, are you watching?" Quistis said into the camera. "Get over here right now. You HAVE permission, I need your help!"

"Now we do something." Squall said, leading Zell and Selphie to the TV station. Once inside, they saw the same standoff. Seifer holding his gunblade at Delings throat while Quistis was trying to calm him down.

"What are you doing?" Squall said to Seifer.

"Isn't it obvious?" Seifer asked. "What are you planning to do with this guy?"

"Planning to do?" Squall asked, before remembering that Seifer and Rinoa knew each other.

"I get it," Zell said, "You're Rinoas..."

"Shut your damn mouth, chicken-wuss!" Seifer demanded.

"He broke out of the disciplinary room," Quistis told Squall, "Injuring many in the process using Haste magic."

"You Moron!" Zell said.

"Zell, be quiet." Squall said, however, Zell didn't hear him.

"Instructor, I know." Zell said. "You're going to take this idiot back to Garden, right?"

"NO!" Squall shouted before Zell realized what he had just done. Zell broke the number 1 rule of a SeeD: Never EVER mention Balamb Garden in the enemy's presence.

"I see, so you're all from Garden." Deling said. "Should anything happen to me, the entire Galbadian military will undoubtedly crush Garden. You can let go of me now."

"Nice going, Chicken-wuss, you and your stupid big mouth." Seifer said, keeping hold of Deling. "Take care of this mess, Instructor and Mr. Leader." Seifer stared walking backwards into a darkened room, taking Deling with him. Seifer got to a point where the area was pitch black, until a black light shined up the room. Seifer got a little edgy at the sudden glow the room was giving off, but got even more edgy when he felt another presence in the room, and what a strong presence it was.

"Poor, poor, boy..." A woman wearing a veil said stepping out from behind a curtain. Seifers eyes went wide, he had found Deling's Sorceress!

"Stay away from me!" Seifer demanded

"Such a confused little boy." She taunted. "Are you going to step forward? Retreat? you have to decide.

"Stay back!" Seifer demanded again. Quistis was seen entering the room, but the Sorceress threw her hand forward, freezing Quistis in place.

"The boy in you is telling you to come, the Adult in you is telling you to back off." The sorceress said. "You can't make up your mind. You don't know the right answer. You want help, don't you? You want to be saved from this predicament."

"Shut up!" Seifer told her again.

"Don't be ashamed to ask for help." The sorceress said. "Besides, you're only a little boy."

"I am not! Stop calling me a boy!"

"You don't want to be a boy anymore?" The sorceress said as Squall, Zell, and Selphie appeared. The sorceress did to them the same she did to Quistis.

"I am not a BOY!" Seifer screamed as he threw Deling aside, pointing his gunblade at the sorceress. Without warning, Seifers gunblade was snatched from his hand by the sorceress' powers. Seifer grabbed the blade again as it began to glow.

"Come with me. To a place of no return." The sorceress said. "Bid farewell to your childhood." Seifer then smiled and waved his gunblade into the air, walking back into the curtain with the sorceress, where they both disappeared. Once they were gone. Squall, Quistis, Zell, and Selphie were able to move again as Rinoa showed up.

"Where's Seifer?" she asked.

"We don't know." Squall told her. "What are you doing here?"

"Our base has been destroyed." Rinoa said. "Zone and Watts were just barely able to escape." Soon, Rinoa ran out of the room, looking like she was about to cry. Quistis gave chase to make sure she was OK, followed soon by Squall and the others. They found her back in the alley. Whatever was bugging her, it seemed like she had gotten it out of her system.

"We need to stay away from Timber for a while." Rinoa said. "Is there a safe place you can take me? This is an order from your client."

"OK," Squall said. However, Balamb Garden was out, since Deling knew about where they came from now.

"Rinoa!" A woman said as she approached them. "I heard your base is in trouble. You can come over to my place until things settle down."

"Thanks." Rinoa said, leading the others to the Womans house.

"I'll let you know if anything changes." The woman said. "Till then, make yourselves at home."

"Thanks chief." Rinoa said.

"Chief?" Squall asked.

"She's the leader of the Forest Fox." Rinoa said. "Just about everyone in this town is in a resistance faction. The Forest Owls are just the only ones who have been active recently."

"I don't get it," Selphie said, "What did Seifer come here for?"

"I think he came to help us." Rinoa said. "I talked about it a lot with him." Jut then, there was a knock at the door. The womans Daughter led them all upstairs while she fed the Soldiers at the door a bunch of crap that they believed.

"Instructor." Squall began.

"Squall, I'm not an instructor anymore," Quistis said. "Call me by my name, please."

"Um, Quistis," Squall said, "How did Seifer escape?"

"He was so angry when he found out it was only the 3 of you being dispatched to Timber." Quistis said. She then started quoting Seifer. "What! They might end up fighting the whole Galbadian military, and all they send is 3 rookies! Dammit, I'm going to Timber!'. I never would have guessed he was serious about it.

"That guy's always serious," Squall said. "You should know that by now."

"What's going to happen to Seifer?" Quistis wondered.

"He may already be dead." Squall said, without any emotion in his voice.

"How can you be so casual?" Rinoa asked. "I feel sorry for him."

"Sorry? Seifer would hate to hear that." Squall thought.

"So why do you think Seifer may be dead?" Selphie asked.

"Because Deling and the Sorceress have joined each other." Squall said. "The Sorceress took Seifer with her after he attacked Deling."

"Even so, I hope he's alive." Rinoa said.

"As long as you don't get your hopes up, you can take anything." Squall said. "You feel less pain."

"You're mean," Rinoa pouted. "MEANY!"

"Sorry," Squall said. Before much longer, the Woman came upstairs.

"The Galbadian forces are withdrawing," She said, "So if you're going to leave town, now's your chance."

"So where do we go?" Squall asked.

"Think Squall," Quistis said. "Garden Code. Article 8; Line 7." Said code stated that if returning to the assigned Garden was not possible, to head to the nearest foreign Garden.

"Head for the nearest Garden." Squall said.

"Right," Quistis said. "Which would be Galbadia Garden." Just the sound of the name made Squall glad that all three gardens; Balamb, Galbadia, and Trabia, were neutral.

"We can take the only train out and get off at East Academy Station." Rinoa said.

"From there, we go through the forest to the west." Quistis said.

"Ok then, lets get out of here." Squall said as the five of them left the house.

"Rinoa, Squall!" A voice said. They saw an old man standing at the Train Station. "It's me, Zone!"

"If you guys are boarding this train, there are no more tickets left."

"Super-Duper-Mega-Bummer!" Selphie said.

"Luckily, I have 5 tickets right here!" he said, passing them out. Before long, he got a stomach ache.

"OoooooWWWWWW. Go, the train's leaving soon." Zone whined.

"Zone, I'll come back soon, I promise." Rinoa said. With that, the 5 of them boarded the train. Squall took a mental note that Zell was being unusually quiet, but still opted to leave him alone.

An hour passed before the train reached East Academy Station, and the 5 of them headed west towards the forest. Once they were in the shade of the trees, a conversation was sparked.

"We're not to far from Galbadia Garden now." Quistis said.

"I was just thinking. "Selphie said, "What if we get caught and get broadcast to the whole world?"

"Whatever happens, happens!" Zell said, the first words he spoke since Timber. "Let's just keep going. I'm worried about Balamb Garden. Do you think the president will really retaliate?

"Maybe," Squall said.

"Figures." Zell sighed. "But-But, We have a whole bunch of SeeDs at Balamb Garden! They wouldn't lose to the Galbadian army, would they?"

"Depends on how strong the army is." Squall said.

"I know, but..." Zell then just decided to give up.

"Oh, you're just a great leader, aren't you?" Rinoa said, laying the sarcasm on pretty thick. "Do you actually have fun acting so callous to your comrades?"

"Not again." Squall thought

"Zell wants your support."

"I knew it was going to be something like that." He thought

"Do you ever worry or even think about the well-being of your comrades?" Rinoa asked.

"Whatever" Squall thought.

"Squall, are you even listening?" Rinoa asked. He was, but found himself unable to answer as a whistling sound entered his head. Before he knew it, he was out like a light, and so were Quistis and Selphie.

"What's going on?" Rinoa wondered

"I think...they went to the 'Dream World'." Zell told her.