I'm back, and here's a little something for you to enjoy.

pinklove: Yep. It disappeared. But you'll see what happens here, if you haven't gotten here in the game yet.

QueenAdreena: Xenophobic means fear of the outside or the foreign.

nightfighter642: Most of this stuff comes straight from the game, with me just throwing my own personal touches here and there.

jasmine32: I feel your pain. I felt Watts was OK, not perfect, but OK. Zone was a little dork that couldn't handle a little motion sickness.

Lady-Rinoa: Glad you think so, and I'm gonna be keeping up.

Grey Wolf of Xanthus: It won't stop me, nothing will. Catch up soon.

WildfireDreams: Sorry to burst your bubble, but Laguna won't be back until next chapter.

Here we go folks, Perhaps the fluffiest part of the game. Squall and Rinoa heading for Esthar.

CHAPTER 37: JOURNEY TO ESTHAR

Squall sat in the infirmary until he heard the announcement that they had docked at FH. Once he heard it, he sat Rinoa up on the bed, picking her up piggyback style.

"Let's go Rinoa," Squall said, "Let's go find Ellone." Squall headed for the Deck, carrying Rinoa with him. Once outside, he found FH sitting before him.

"It's a bit far, but we'll make it." Squall told the unconscious woman on his shoulders as he began to cross the longest structure in the world, the Horizon Bridge. Squall looked west to the Galbadian continent, then east towards Esthar. The same thing was in both directions, a de-activated train bridge stretching for miles, disappearing in the horizon. Squall didn't care how far it was, but he didn't think it would be this far. As he breathed in Rinoa's scent, he noticed how much he had changed in the past week. Squall looked back and saw that FH was out of view, but there were still miles to go until Esthar. He needed a break from walking, so he set Rinoa down as he hung his legs out over the edge of the bridge. He wondered what everyone was doing. Maybe they were laughing at him, maybe they were angry.

"What do you think?" Squall asked Rinoa, knowing he wouldn't get an answer. "To tell you the truth, I worry too much about what others think of me. I hate that side of me, that's why I didn't want anyone to get to know me. I wanted to hide that part of myself because I hate it so much. It made it easy for me when people perceived me as an unfriendly, introverted guy. That's a secret between you and me, got that?"

Squall picked up Rinoa again and continued to walk. A few hours later, he had nearly reached his destination. The deserted Horizon Station, on the edge of the Esthar Continent. He sat Rinoa on a bench, when he saw the others headed towards him. Quistis and Zell approached him, while Selphie and Irvine ran off ahead, looking for something.

"Squall, we thought you might be here." Quistis said.

"What are you guys doing here?" Squall asked.

"You're going to Esthar, right?" Quistis asked, "We're going too."

"We're Edea's escort." Zell said. Squall looked over and saw Edea walking towards them.

"Let us be on our way, Squall." Edea said.

"What business do you have in Esthar?" Squall asked.

"I must go see Doctor Odine." Edea said.

"You've heard that name, right Squall?" Zell asked. "When it comes to knowledge about sorceresses, he's Number one!"

"I remember," Squall said, "But why do you need to see him?"

"Sorceress Ultimecia is alive," Edea said. "She is able to take control of me at any time, and I wish to be free of her power. Dr. Odine may be able to save me."

"Ok, we'll all go to Esthar." Squall said as he put Rinoa back on his shoulders.

"Yo, they're back." Zell said as Selphie and Irvine came back.

"The two of them went to go take a look." Quistis said.

"How's it goin' Squall?" Irvine asked.

"Is Rinoa still asleep?" Selphie asked. She stood on her toes to whisper something into Squalls ear.

"Rinoa's cute when she's asleep, isn't she?" Selphie said.

"Whatever," Squall said, "Can we make it to Esthar?"

"Whooo! Are you blushing?" Selphie squealed.

"Sefie, don't make Squall angry." Irvine said, calling Selphie by her pet name. "Anyway, Esthar's supposed to be huge, butwe can't seem to find it anywhere!

"Couldn't find it up north or down south, so let's try going east next." Selphie said. With that, they headed away from the station and to the east, where a giant dried up lake lay before them.

"Hello? I don't see a city." Selphie said.

"Looks like we're in for a long trip." Edea added.

"Everything will be all right." Zell said. "We'll be by your side all the way."

"Thank you Zell, but you must be alert even in my presence." Edea told him. "As long as I can be myself, everything will be fine. But if Ultimecia gets inside me again, you all know what to do."

"Either way, we're all together again." Selphie said. "Except for Ellone and Seifer. We're gonna bring back Rinoa. It'll be like a picnic, we're going to have fun!"

"Somebody once told me that if you mention bad things, they'll come true." Squall said. "I know its just a stupid superstition, but right now, I want to believe it, so let's not talk about it anymore."

"Well, if we're gonna go, let's go." Irvine said. Squall nodded as he began to lead the gang through what Edea said was the dry Great Salt Lake. This dry lakebed was home to monsters called Vysage's, which were like Faces and Hands appearing to be stuck in the ground. They weren't much of a threat, until they came across something huge, an Abadon! An Abadon was a giant skeleton with what appeared to be elephant tusks. With one swipe, Zell, Quistis, and Irvine were knocked away, struggling to get back to their feet. Squall set Rinoa's body aside and began to confuse it by moving quickly under a haste spell, while Selphie ran a scan on the monster.

"1,000 Needles!" Squall shouted as all of them disappeared. Squall had just summoned one of their newest GF's, Cactuar! Cactuar appeared on command and leapt into the air, throwing hundreds of Cactus needles at the monster. It did some damage, but not enough to keep the monster down.

"Undead?" Selphie asked herself as she finished her scan. Edea heard her own question; this monster was in for it if Edea's suspicion was correct.

"Squall, get away from it!" Edea called. Squall quickly backed away, as the monster spotted Edea.

"Full Life!" She said, casting a Full Life spell on the monster. Normally, a Full Life spell would snap a person out of unconsciousness and return their energy, but since this Abadon was an undead creature, it sapped its energy until it turned to dust, and blew away with the wind.

"Everybody Ok?" Edea asked. Everyone nodded as Squall and Selphie helped them to their feet. Squall quickly checked on Rinoa, and was relieved when he didn't find a scratch on her. Slowly, they continued. This dried up lake seemed to go on and on with no end in sight! Frustrated, Zell punched into the air, and pulled his hand back in pain when he felt it strike something.

"Ow!" Zell said, "What the hell was that all about?" Squall stuck his hand out and felt an invisible wall!

"There's something here..." Squall said. Moving his hand around, he found a button, which made a tunnel appear, up in the air! Beneath it was a ladder.

"What is that?" Irvine asked.

"This looks to be the only way." Squall said. "I'll go first. Zell and Irvine, if I drop Rinoa, I want you guys to catch her."

"Got it." Zell said.

"Alrighty." Irvine added as the two of them stood behind Squall as he found the rungs of the ladder. Slowly, he made it to the top With Rinoa still on his back. Edea went up next, followed by Irvine, Selphie, Quistis, and Zell in the back. What was inside seemed to be some kind of factory, which was completely deserted. Inside, they found a series of Elevators. At some point, they came across one that didn't go anywhere, until the Darkness disappeared, and they found themselves standing above the biggest city they have ever seen!"

"WHAT THE HELL?" Zell shouted.

"How did we get all the way up here?" Selphie asked.

"Do you think..."? Irvine began to say.

"Matron, is this...?" Quistis continued.

"It is." Edea said. "Esthar, we made it!"

"Gravity generator activated." A voice said from a speaker about five feet away. Soon, they felt themselves being weighed down, which was a good thing, because this elevator moved at a very high speed to the Center of Esthar, which looked like something out of the future! Soon, the elevator stopped, and they stepped off onto the streets of Esthar.

"Judging from their technology, they must know we're here." Squall said. "If Sorceress Adel is still in power, we may encounter some hostility, so everyone stay alert." Everyone nodded. Soon, Zell and Selphie dropped to their knees and fell asleep. Squall's questions were answered as he heard that familiar whistling noise in his head.

"No...Not now!" Squall struggled to say. "This... isn't...good!" Soon, Squall was asleep.

"What's going on?" Edea asked.

"Ellone's using her power on them." Irvine told her.