Just one thing before you guys get started down there: I don't know why Irvine and Zell don't get along. It was just how I wrote it two years ago, and who knows what was going through my head then. Maybe I don't want to know what was going through my head. And with the Squall and Quistis arguments, I'll get to that later.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Final Fantasy VIII title, characters, or places. I do, however, own Rianna and I think it's two more, a few places that the gang hasn't gotten to yet and the image of a certain individual. Lol

Chapter Thirty-Two

A Little Help From My Friends

Selphie, Laguna, Irvine, and Ellone were actually laughing at Zell because of his previous comment. Irvine was laughing more out of disgust. He and Zell hadn't really ever gotten along, but that was another story that would take too long to tell. Let's just say that it has something to do with sleepwalking and hotdogs. Selphie, Laguna, and Ellone found amusement in poor Zell. He was constantly confused, or put the air on that he was. Zell was a pretty smart guy, but he sometimes had a hard time understanding when he hasn't paid attention. But that's pretty much common knowledge, now isn't it?

Now Irvine had to wonder, silently of course, if the term "Blondie" was something that was made just for him and no one else. He didn't hate Zell. It was just that the boy got on his nerves with the stupid way that he acted all the time. There was no break in his stupidity, and it was all for show, all for attention. He knew that he wasn't that stupid. Nobody could be THAT stupid. It just wasn't possible.

The room was suddenly disturbed by a loud, fast and urgent knock from the door. "President Loire! I have good news for you! It's extremely important, sir! Please, may I enter, sir?" The presidential Aide announced. He was talking so quickly that the words were just all strung together into one. Laguna lost the smile that he had before and stood from his seat behind the large desk to make his way over to the door. He opened it and the Presidential Aide rushed in.

The Presidential Aide was a tall, lanky man and looked like a giant Swiss roll in his uniform. He was of dark complexion with dark eyes. He was a very nice man, but he had the bad habit of speaking 500 miles per hour so no one really had a chance to understand what he had to say and repeatedly had to ask him to say it slower the second, third, or even fourth time.

The Presidential Aide was shaking with excitement and could barely hold himself together. "Sir! Sir! Four individuals have just been spotted coming out of the mountains just south of the city. One of them has been identified as Commander Leonhart!" He stopped, most likely to breathe.

"Squall!" Laguna exclaimed in a happy outburst. Nothing could make him happier than that.

"Oh my Hyne! They're alive!" Selphie screamed at the top of her lungs, and everyone in the room just made a cringing motion of pain as her voice echoed in a piercing way. And as almost always, Selphie took off out the room with the others on her heels, including Laguna who was right up there with Selphie, and between the two of them, they knocked quite a few people down. As they all ran down the hall away from Laguna's quarters, they could here the Presidential Aide calling after them, trying to keep up.

"Should you be running like that, Mr. President?"

They ran from the palace and out of the large city. (Actually, they ran out of the palace, and to a Rent-A-Car station.) They reached the plains of Esthar, on the outskirts of the city, within minutes. So far, there was nothing. Laguna turned to the Aide.

"Are you sure that it was south?" He asked, but before the Aide could answer, Selphie shrieked, and as usual, her shrieks were loud, very loud and very painful.

"Rinoa! Quistis!" She took off running again for ahead of them, four figures were walking towards them. Three of them were unmistakably Squall, Rinoa, and Quistis. But just who was the other person…?

Selphie's shriek threw Rinoa off any sort of guard she might have had, and she most certainly wasn't prepared when the girl knocked into her with a fierce hug. Selphie knocked into her into Squall, who rammed into the other person, who lost their balance and landed with a thud on their butt.

"Rinoa! Rinoa! You're okay! You're not locked in some musty old dungeon! You're all… Oh my gosh! Seifer?" Selphie caught sight of Seifer, who was being helped up by a semi-hysteric Commander. Squall was having a hard time hiding the smile that had leaped up onto his face and caused him to chuckle softly.

"Shut up, Squall," Seifer mumbled, his cheeks burning as they turned several shades of red and pink. He managed to look at Selphie with a sheepish smile. It had been about two years since he had seen her or any of them, really.

Laguna couldn't control it any longer. He walked over to Squall and pulled him into a very tight hug. The motion was something that Squall wasn't quite prepared for, but he returned the embrace just the same, which was rather unusual for him. Laguna pulled away and glanced over the others: Rinoa was being hugged to death by Selphie, Irvine had his arms around Quistis and Ellone, Zell was dancing around in a happy sort of way, and Seifer was standing behind them all with his head hung down and his shoulders hunched. It was obvious to Laguna that he felt out of place and unwelcome.

"Seifer, I'm President Laguna Loire," Laguna said kindly as he walked over to him and held out his hand. Seifer took it and nodded while everyone watched in amazement.

"I know, sir," Seifer said quietly. He really did feel out of place.

"You know what? Why don't we all go back to the palace? We can talk, eat, and you all can get some well-deserved rest. And you, Seifer, should get your arm looked at," Laguna suggested and added to Seifer with a smile. "I can have someone return the Ragnarok to the Airstation for you." Laguna ushered them all to get moving.

Back at the palace, Laguna had his chef fix a superb meal for them all. Seifer and Squall were both fixed up by the nearest doctor, and they ate in the President's quarters. A large table had been moved in that seated all of them with room to spare. Everyone ate well, except for Squall, who didn't eat a bite. Laguna set his fork down and watched his son just stare at his plate, not talking to anyone. Figuring that Squall was just lost in his thoughts for the time being, Laguna turned to Quistis to engage a conversation.

"What happened? Why did you come from over the mountains when the Ragnarok is at the Sorceress' Memorial?" Inquired Laguna. Quistis gently wiped her mouth, unsure of how to answer.

"Well, we had gone into the Memorial thinking that maybe we could find something to help us and as we were observing the wreckage, we were attacked." She deliberately left out certain parts to that section of the story. "We were attacked from behind and were knocked out for some time, I believe. When we came to it, we were in the dungeon of Ultimecia's castle." Laguna stared at her in disbelief. Ellone was right. They were locked in a dungeon. But does that mean…? He asked himself. Ellone coughed nervously, and Laguna shook his head. If there was a connection between the two, no one made much notice about it.

"So, like, how did you get out?" Zell interrupted. He was paying attention this time. If he didn't, he'd get lost, not understand, ask stupid questions, and have Irvine yell at him again. He was getting a bit tired of the cowboy always yelling and picking on him.

Quistis took a deep breath. She didn't really like how fast this conversation was going.

"I got them out," Seifer struggled to keep his voice from cracking in fear of how everyone would react. They all turned to him. They hadn't expected him to say anything so soon into dinner. Laguna slightly groaned.

It was true.

"You?" Zell asked in complete disbelief. "Where exactly were you guys again?" He shook his head, unable to believe any of this. This was the guy, who two years ago, tried to help an evil sorceress conquer the world and kill Rinoa. So why would he be helping them?

"Zell, do you ever pay attention?" Selphie asked, giving up more and more on the martial artist.

"Or is the only thing swirling around in that pea-sized brain of yours nothing but food?" Irvine asked. Zell glared at him.

"I was too paying attention! I said 'again!' Dang it, I said 'AGAIN!'" He exclaimed in anger at Selphie, Irvine, and now everyone else. Why was everyone always picking on him? Why was he the target? First there was "Chicken Wuss," then "Hotdog Boy," and now this. What was this torture and why was he the one strapped to the torture bed with a crazy scientist holding a massive needle marked "Essence of Torture"?

"Zell, we were in the dungeon of Ultimecia's castle, you might say." Quistis replied. She saw no reason why Selphie and Irvine were finding this such a big deal.

Laguna noticed her change in words. "What do you mean by 'you might say?'" He inquired of her.

But Quistis just waved the question away, not ready to tell them what she, Squall, and Rinoa now knew. The rest of them weren't ready to hear that at this time.

"What were you doing there?" Zell turned to Seifer, determined to prove to everyone that he could pay attention. Plus, he wanted to know. For a long time that crazy scientist holding the massive needle was Seifer. He happened to catch Seifer in a spot, and he fumbled for something to say, anything that would make sense or make them see.

"Umm…I was…uh." He couldn't bring himself to say it. He looked at Squall and Quistis, pleading for help, something he had never really allowed himself to do before. Quistis also fumbled with words. She just had no idea how to get him out of answering.

"Laguna, sir, it's been a long day, and a few of us haven't had much sleep lately. Could we continue this charade of questions at a later time?" Squall asked of his father in such a professional manner that took everyone, including Laguna, by surprise. He was only helping Seifer out because he had helped them out. There was still a lot of tension there, a lot of hatred.

At Balamb, Squall and Seifer had never really gotten along. True, they wielded the same weapon, but Seifer had always been a bit of a showoff and he secretly had a jealousy of Squall's talents. And because he envied him, Seifer gave Squall his scar and a hard time. Hell would have been a beautiful place.

Laguna nodded his understandings, and they all rose to leave.

A/N: Again, sorry that these few chapters around here will be so short. I'm eager to get where I left off in my notebook. I want to finish this, or get really close to finishing. I have an idea for a story that is a real break from all the serious stuff I seem to do. And at the beginning when I mentioned the partial reason to why Irvine and Zell don't get along, that was a dream. A really, really, really strange dream that involved a jealous walking cheeseburger. But don't get me wrong or anything! It wasn't a Zell and Irvine relationship thing. It was just weird. Whatever it was that I ate before I went to bed that night, I will never eat again. That dream was so weird it's not funny. I'm actually tempted to write it down and post it, but you guys might think that I'm totally weird. Well, I am, but let's leave it at that! I'm going to get working on the next chapter so you guys won't lose faith in me! Later Days!