Again, sorry for the long wait for a new chapter. I've made a bit of a move, so it's been a while since I've been able to freely access the Internet. But now, hopefully updates will occur more frequently. If not, free tonberry stabbings for everyone! Enjoy the chappy.

Chapter 12- Reunions

OK. Maybe I over reacted to the dragon thing. I'm sorry. How was I supposed to know it was a ship? It looked like a dragon. Anyway, the large dragon looking ship thing landed right out in front of the Garden, causing quite a stir. A long looking piece of metal opened down, and who should walk out but the tall one dressed all in black. Quistis told me his name. Squall, I think it was. Followed by just about everyone else. Much to my dismay, I didn't see Quistis and sat down sadly.

"Hey. What's this little guy doing here?" Someone asked. I looked up, seeing the spiky one talking about me. Quistis called it Zell, I think.

"He's with me." Two voices spoke up. One I could tell right away was Selphie. But the other is what really grabbed my attention. I hopped up and ran as fast as I could through the crowd of students and SeeD's gathering outside to welcome back the heroes. Finally, after squeezing my way through a few small human children, I saw Quistis making her way down the ramp.

/YES/ I thought. She smiled when she saw me and held out her arms. I held out my arms and instantly bolted towards her. Unfortunately, my robe went farther then my feet, and I had a delicious serving of dirt then and there. Needed salt, but that's beside the point.

Quistis walked down and picked me up, hugging me and patting my head. She was soon joined by a few others females, including Selphie. She set me down and everyone began walking back inside. Me? Well, I stayed outside for a minute to contemplate everything that had gone on. I hadn't been gone from the ruins long, but in the time I had, a lot of stuff had gone down. Weird stuff. Monsters, swarms of humans, humans with buckets on their heads. It was all almost too much for this little ton to handle. But in spite of everything, I remained...kinda strong.

That night, there was a huge party, and everyone had a really good time. Zell nearly choked to death, which got a laugh out of everyone. The female looking male, who I learned was called Irvine, had pretty much the same luck with women as Quistis told me about. None. Zero, zip, nadda, nothing!

Squall and the possessed women I met (Rinoa, was it?) were hardly seen during the night. They were mentioned, of course, but were as hard to find as a hot-dog near Zells face. Selphie was carrying around a strange black box. I tried to avoid it, of course. Those things steal your soul.

Quistis mingled with everyone, from the fat one call Cid, to his wife, the unusually frail looking Edea. Really a mismatched pair. I did notice something odd, though. Quistis talked the whole night, laughing and mixing it up, but even with that smile on her face, she still looked sad in her eyes. Like something was still wrong with the world around her.

After the party died down, everyone went back to their respective little rooms. It was either really late or really early by the time they did, I'm not sure which. I went back with Quistis to her room, and almost as soon as the door closed behind me, Quistis flopped on the bed, buried her face in the pillow, and began to shake.

I pulled my way onto her bed and tapped her shoulder. Much to my surprise, her eyes were red and teary. She was crying. I looked at her questioning look and she shook her head. "No, its nothing. " I shook my head, not accepting that load of behemoth dung. She sighed, but with a smile and sat up. "Well,...lets just say...I'm in a lot of pain."

My eyes went wide and I started checking her arm for any kind of bruises or scratches. She laughed a bit and picked me up, setting me back in front of her. "Not, its not a physical pain." She touched her chest. "It's...more here. In my heart. Lets just say I'm not the kind of teacher I wanted to be, and I don't really feel like the kind of women someone wants me to be."

I wish I could have helped her, I really do. But human matters are lost on me. I patted her hand, then reached into my sleeve and pulled out a bag of cookies someone had given me at the party. I offered her some, and she happily accepted them. We sat there, munching on the little chocolate chip baked goodness for a bit, then finally Quistis sighed and patted my head before laying back down. I watched her sleep for a bit, a sad feeling sinking into my chest. I just wish I knew what she wanted so I could help her get it.

What could he be that she wanted? Money? No, humans have lots of that usually. Power? I doubt it. She seems pretty strong to me. A mate? Maybe. Everyone wants someone to be with.

My suspicions were confirmed when Quistis rolled onto her back and muttered something, as she usually did when she slept. "Squall..."

Of course! The Squall! She wants the Squall as her mate! Now I could see why she was so sad. That odd Rinoa thing clung to Squall like a bad smell. I knew my mission. I had to somehow pry the Rinoa away from the Squall and get Quistis to stick to him like gum on my shoe. Wait...gum on my shoe? I looked down. Aw man. What a great way to end the day, huh?

There we go. Another chapter done, another notch in my authors belt. Hopefully, more will quickly be added. To shamelessly plug my other fics, please check out Unexpected Comfort. I should be putting up a new chapter for that pretty soon, too. So watch out!