Chapter Twenty-Two:
A/N: There has been a lot of action lately, and I wanted to slow things down. The train ride lasted longer than I thought, though, so things will pick up and move after this chapter.
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Tessa stepped of the train and found herself atop a platform that had nothing on it but a railing and a set of stairs leading to the ground. At the bottom of said stairs the rest of the group stood. Xu was talking to a tall black man in a dark blue suit and sunglasses. He looked up and saw Tessa, but she couldn't read his expression.
"Thank you for your time, Ma'am," the man said as Tessa approached. He looked at his watch and walked away, disappearing around a corner.
"Who was he?" Tessa asked Xu. She felt a like she had Deja Vu, but couldn't understand why.
"It's none of your business," Xu said coldly. She was clearly angry with Tessa, and didn't feel the need to hide the fact. "Let's go."
The troupe walked down the street and until they reached the Timber Hotel. Tessa watched as a little girl wandered over to a cat, only to have her mother yell to leave the thing alone. Xu stamped her foot on the sidewalk and clapped her hands to get everyone's attention.
"Okay, listen up," Xu yelled over the noise of the people on the street. "I'm going to go see about the train to Galbadia City. We'll meet up here in two hours, is that clear?"
"Yes, Ma'am!" Phelan and Adette chimed with salutes. Tessa was too caught up in thought to follow protocol, but Xu didn't seem to notice.
"Very well, dismissed," Xu said with another clap of her hands. Tessa felt a hand on her arm and stiffened.
"Calm down," Rinoa said. "It's just me."
Tessa jerked her arm out of Rinoa's gripped and snarled, "Is that supposed to make me feel better?"
"Why so hostile?" Rinoa asked, slightly shocked. "I was just going to ask if you wanted a tour of Timber to pass the time."
"Sorry," Tessa said, her mind still on the man with the sunglasses. She was certain she had seen him before, but couldn't remember where. "Bad night."
"Well, as I said earlier, it's over now," Rinoa said with a sigh of relief. "So, do you want to?
"Do I want to what?" Tessa asked, too tired to feel like playing games. "Would you spill it already?"
"I was just asking if you wanted to go on that tour," Rinoa sighed and shook her head. "You're really tense, you know that? You should relax and enjoy yourself. I know it's an exam, but that doesn't mean you stress out over it. You'll only make things worse."
"It's just…" Tessa began to say, but decided not to. "Fine, show me around this town. I need to kill some time."
"Gladly," Rinoa said. She took Tessa's arm in her own and the two women walked away from the hotel. Zell, Adette, Phelan, and Xu had already left.
They passed the train station to Balamb again and walked by a building with the words "Timber Maniacs" painted on a sign posted on the front of the building. Tessa stopped and stared in awe.
"Wow, this is the home of Timber Maniacs," Tessa said, catching Rinoa's attention.
"Yes, it is," Rinoa said. "It opened back up after Galbadia finally withdrew from Timber. It was one of the conditions of the Arklay Conventions."
"Arklay Conventions?" Tessa asked, having never heard of them before. "What are the Arkalay Conventions?"
"You don't know?" Rinoa said as though it were blasphemy. "The Arklay Conventions were the meetings that ended hostilities between Galbadia and Balamb Garden. They occurred about six months ago. Ringing a bell?"
"Sorry," Tessa said with a shrug. "Six months ago I was at Lotia Garden. We must have been too busy for them to teach us that."
"Where's Lotia Garden?" Rinoa asked. Someone called out her name and she waved. "I used to live here."
"Good for you," Tessa said as she rolled her eyes. She couldn't believe that famous people were so boring. "Lotia Garden is by Junon."
"The Shinra headquarters?" Rinoa asked as she waved at another person. "They must've requested a lot of services from your old Garden."
"Actually, not," Tessa said with a hint of a grin. "We were often hired by people opposing them. Rumour has it that there was even a SeeD in AVALANCHE."
"The freedom fighters that defeated Sephiroth?" Rinoa said in awe. "How could Cid have not told us?"
Tessa was caught off guard by how casually Rinoa referred to the headmaster, but she offered her hypothesis on the subject. "Maybe it's because he wanted to keep Shinra from finding out. The Gardens couldn't have afforded another war, much less with a major power company that holds a history in weapons production."
"How do you know all of this?" Rinoa asked. "Next you're going to tell me that you know about the secret Shinra-Umbrella merger."
"What?" Tessa said loudly, drawing looks from passing people. "Are you saying that the medical supplies I'm using are made by Shinra?"
"Is that a big deal?" Rinoa wondered.
"It's just that I've never used a Shinra product before," Tessa said, looking in her pack. "They were banned at my last Garden. Don't ask me why, though."
"Hey, I want you to meet some people," Rinoa said excitedly. She grabbed Tessa's arm and pulled her up to a house beside the Timber Maniacs building. "These are some great people. They really helped us out back when I was with Zone and Watts in the Forest Owls."
"Forest Owls?" Tessa whispered to herself as Rinoa knocked on the door. The door opened and a large woman stood in the doorway with her hair in a bandana and a large white apron across her stomach. In her hand was a black cast-iron skillet.
"What do you want?" the woman asked when she saw Tessa. She had to fight the urge to hide behind Rinoa under the woman's glare. However, when she saw Rinoa, the woman's face lit up. "I haven't seen you in ages! Come in, come in!"
The woman turned and walked into the house. With her hand still on Tessa's arm, Rinoa followed her. The first thing about the house Tessa noticed was how oddly clean it was. There wasn't even so much as a spaghetti stain on the wall or an empty bottle of wine on the dining room table.
"Sit down," the woman said. "You want anything to drink?"
"We don't really have the time, Candace," Rinoa said. "I just wanted to stop by and say hi."
"Oh," Candace said with disappointment in her voice. "Well, at least tell me who your friend is."
"This is Tessa, she's a SeeD candidate," Rinoa said. When Tessa looked at Rinoa with a dropped jaw, Rinoa just shrugged it off. "We're here on her exam. I can't get much more detailed than that, though."
Candace sat at the table and folded her hands on the table. "You can at least tell me how you've been, you know."
"I've been great," Rinoa said. "Living at the Garden has been great."
"Have I thanked you for getting that Cid guy to have Timber's independence included in the Arkalay Convention?" Candace asked.
"No, but that's okay," Rinoa said. "I was glad to do it."
As the two women continued to talk, Tessa looked around the house. There was a staircase leading up to a second floor, and on the wall leading up was a series of photographs. The first picture was of Rinoa, Candace, and a whole slew of other people in front of the house. Standing beside Rinoa, with his arm around her shoulders, was Squall Leonhart.
She looked out the window, still bored, and saw people walking by. One of them was the man in sunglasses that had been talking with Xu. Tessa blinked and a familiar-looking blonde woman in a dark blue suit passed the window. Tessa stood up and walked to the window, but when she looked out both people were gone.
"I'm going back to the hotel," she said to Rinoa. "Thanks for the tour and all."
"Okay," Rinoa said before turning back to her conversation.