Disclaimer: You get the idea.

She was trying to breath smoothly but it was becoming difficult she was a little choked up, still slightly in disbelief. Well, it had gone much better than she expected, though not the best possible scenario… (she subconsciously entertained visions of crowds gathering to cheer her back as she rode into the garden in a long blue hummer limo, sporting that diamond encrusted eye patch she had fantasized about a while back) she caught herself in a smirk, if the minute upturn of the lips could be construed as a smirk. She looked between the identically dressed faculty members flanking her on three sides paces matched to hers perfectly keeping a roughly 1 meter circle around her leading her in a completely impersonal manner, as was demanded.

They came into the Separate Dormitory area reserved for guests of the garden. The door itself was plain as any, just the simple sliding doors and marked with the number 2304, the member, she was just going to call them all Pat, just so she would have Something to call the faceless, nameless lackeys. She let herself get that smirk again. The door slid back and a thought crossed her mind, she had never seen the kind of accommodations that were given to SeeD, let alone Diplomats and Clientele… well best time is the present. She looked up and her jaw damned near dropped off her face.

The room was at least 10mX15m it was huge, with a queen sized bed, the entire room was done in dark blues and sky that was the theme in the garden it seemed. The posts of the bed were ornate long poles meticulously carved and had long dragons curling around them to croon into the air their small wings flared out in high glory. the carpet was a rich Blue, unblemished and waving like the ocean itself. Across the spacious apartment was windows covering the wall, letting her see the dark ocean they now crossed, the glass was crystal clear and went nearly wall to wall. The lighting in the room was provided by a hanging chandelier the small crystals setting the room in their soft light dim enough to not hurt the eyes, but still pleasantly illuminate everything. She spied two doors, one likely a closet the other had to be a bathroom, one miracle at a time. She noticed the mirror next it was attached to an old wooden desk, finely lacquered and set in dark mahogany it was a work of art, the lamp was an ordinary desk lamp, paling in comparison to the splendor of the rest of the room.

The Pat to her left cleared his throat rather loudly and she realized she was staring wide eyed into the room, and likely had been for the last few minutes. She nearly encored the fiercest blush she had even had in her life but stifled the embarrassment just in time as she nodded and walked in, feeling bad about her filthy, dirt encrusted boots…. However, it could hardly be helped. The door closed behind her and she heard one set of footsteps moving away… they left guards, guess they were serious about not letting her roam… well, first things first, she pulled off her boots and socks and stretched her raw feet a little with a deep heartfelt sigh. She stood unsteadily for a moment before walking toward the bathroom with a genuine smile on her face and marveled at the massive Roman-esque tub slowly walking inside and closing the door, this was going to be the best bath she had ever had.

&8&

He had his members looking into things, the rumor he had spread was true…. But he still felt a twinge somewhere about lying to the entire garden and slipping a criminal into their midst without their knowledge. Well….. Worse things had been done in the name of security, he supposed and filtered through the reports as they came in, his dual monitors glowing with the notations of fieldwork and the mail. The message had been simple, and easy enough to distribute widely, it started with an E-Message sent to a student with the whole story under the guise of an overheard remark between two garden officials. From there the story was wildfire and more and more the student body was believing it, which was good. The reception however was mixed. About sixty forty split, sixty for toasting the fugitive no matter the story and forty for allowing her sanctuary. He would have to write a more persuasive message, with the majority still against it he would need to plan carefully, this could get violent, as he had suspected. He was roused from from his reverie with a knock at the door. Oh Damn. He scrabled to reassemble the files and minimize the screens succeeding in mostly getting everything back into their folders and getting the folders away as he reached up and clicked the screen to the camera outside the door and sighed. It was Zell, and oh he didn't look happy…

"Squall! Squall! I need to talk to you about something." He could guess what the thing he wanted to discuss was, it didn't take a genius, and Zell was no Genius. So he collected his thoughts and smoothed out the desk leaving a few non-related folders on the desk and pulling up the resounding face of calm.

"It's open." The door opened almost immediately and Zell walked in with Purpose, he was dressed in full SeeD uniform as was required of instructors and he came to stand in front of the desk as formally as Zell could be expected to stand under and circumstances. He noted the set of Zell's jaw and the heavy features set with lines of concentration, Zell never did have much handle on his emotions…

"I have come to ask you about a rumor that has me a little worried…" Squall bit him off in traditional Arrogance, needing to be in charactor. "You want to know if there is anything to the Rumor that we are harboring one of the supporters of the Sorceress here, right?"

"um…. Yeah actually" that pulled a little wind from his sails but he recollected himself quickly, he really was becoming increasingly a competent, dedicated instructor. It was good to see. Squall found himself with two painful options, Either lie and cover it up, or confide in someone who hated Seifer possibly more than Squall himself, he took a hard internal breath and folded his hands on the desk, letting the silence soak in, as Zell squirmed under the intense scrutiny.

"Are you implying I would not tell you if such a thing were possible, that great a matter kept secret even from the staff of the Garden?" no matter that it was true, Zell Blanched a bit as though someone had told him he was wearing no clothes he looked thoroughly ashamed of himself.

"It was only a question, I apologize for that, I was out of line." Squall jumped up and pumped his arm, disaster averted, campaign all around, well in his mind at least. Outside he maintained that cool calculated debonair that he always held, Zell just stood silent at attention, looking rather ashamed of himself.

"Zell, rest assured that you will be notified, don't think that I have changed just because I have had the title commander thrust upon me, it will not change me, I will not hide anything that needs to be known, especially not something that would put the entire garden at risk." Zell looked as though his thoughts had been read off his forehead and averted his eyes no doubt chastising himself for his thoughts.

"Zell." "yes, Commander?" suddenly very serious, "Dismissed." Zell only nodded and turned at walked right out the door without so much as a pause. Squall Physically slumped a bit drawing a long breath holding it and letting it out slowly, He consoled himself that some things are for the greater good…

A/N: Well there is another one, I do promise that they will eventually start with the relationship, but things have to settle first, and I am never one for a Deus ex Machina, so you will have to be patient, SORRY! Anyway, I hope things remain interesting, I do promise that it will not take too long to work things out, but really I am pulling this out of my hat as I go, even I do not know what is going on until I sit down to write it, so do not E-mail me asking what is gonna happen! sheesh .> Well, anyway, Enjoy R&R