~Squall~

I am shocked to see Seifer, standing a few feet behind our group as he also approaches the entrance with us. He looks so...good? Is this where he's been this whole time? Hiding in the city that hides? My eyes snap to Zell who is moving towards the blonde. I quickly grip the short sleeve of his jacket, stopping him from making an ass out of us all in the palace entryway.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Zell questions him through gritted teeth, his eyes narrowing further with each word. Seifer holds his hands up and shakes his head in defeat. Mentally scolding himself I'd imagine, given his shitty announcement to us of his existence. Seriously, who decides the first thing to say to the people you haven't seen since the world went to hell is an insult? When you were blatant enemies with these people whom you knew your entire life? The same people who would like to understand what happened and to help if they can, considering we all grew up together and are the only family most of us know?

"Seifer has been my guest here in Esthar since the end of the war, Zell. I'd appreciate civility within my city walls," Laguna pipes up, finally catching up with the rest of us. Seifer raises his eyes to Zell's, an almost pained expression on his face.

"Sorry for calling you that, Dincht," he starts, a slight smirk appearing in the corner of his mouth, "old habits." Kiros struts over to Seifer's side before holding a hand out towards the entrance.

"Shall we continue this discussion inside, gentlemen?" I scan the faces of my team, seeing a mixture of emotions ranging from regret to rage for what has come between us, but our overall curiosity has won out. Checking with Zell, I slowly release my grip on his sleeve and he eventually nods before stalking over to the elevator and sitting down. The rest of us follow, taking our seats one by one until we are all crammed together and the elevator levitates off the ground.

Silence engulfs the ride inside, which is to be expected given the onslaught of questions going unanswered between us all. My brow furrows as I begin planning out how to address the whole point of this meeting. Bodies jerk together when the elevator finally lands back on solid ground, each of us getting off and making our way to the conference room at the end of the hall. Laguna shuffles up beside me, gripping under my bicep to slow my speed and allow room between us and the others.

"Seifer isn't the only one here, Squall." He mumbles, worry bright in his eyes at my reaction. I frown at the older man, waiting for him to tell me who else is here when I hear Selphie's squeal from further down the hallway.

"Rinny!"

I glare at Laguna, waiting for some kind of denial or confirmation that she is here, but he avoids my stare. With a sigh, the older man releases my arm and walks down the hall to meet up with the others, all of which are now swarming around the brunette girl and staring back at me. Waiting to see how I will react, I'm sure. How should I react, I wonder? Technically, Rinoa didn't do anything wrong when she decided to up and leave Garden without a word to anyone, especially me. She had the right to seek refuge anywhere, even if that meant she would be away from us all. Even if that meant following the path of a certain blonde ex-boyfriend of hers to hide out in Esthar.

I frown at myself, irritated at the jealous-sounding fit my mind is throwing. I'm not jealous, I'm pissed. The amount of man hours and Gil wasted to find these two and the entire time they were here. I shake off my anger, placing my typical stoic face on and walking by them all to enter the conference room.

"Who goes first?" I ask Laguna while the others file into the room. Laguna notes the bite to my tone and winces, shrugging the responsibility of choosing the first topic of discussion off onto me. He then turns and faces his advisor, leaning in closely and whispering into the other man's ear. Kiros nods once before turning and leaving the room.

"I've asked him to go wake Ellone. She should be here for this," the president mumbles, his body language showing total defeat. At least he knows he screwed up; I decide to give him credit for that as I wave my hand out at the man.

"While we wait for her arrival, you may as well go first," I state with little emotion.

Seifer suddenly stands from his seat and leans against the table, glancing at each of us. "Don't be so hard on Laguna, Squall," his voice pleads as his attention goes to the other Estharian stowaway. Rinoa stands up as well, gripping her Griever ring on her necklace. She nods at Seifer, but still keeps her eyes down almost as if she is ashamed.

"Seifer wrote to me when I was still at Garden with you all," her eyes find the blonde's, seeking approval to continue on. Seifer smiles sincerely at her and she sighs before continuing. "He knew I was there since I was always on your arm in all of the newspaper photos, Squall." She points to me but keeps her eyes trained on the table top. Photos of us circulated everywhere in the weeks after the defeat of the Sorceresses, the world wanting to know all about their heroes. The tabloids really took off with the possibility of a romance between Rin and me, given how I became her knight. "He told me how Dr. Odine here in Esthar was helping him with everything that had happened." Selphie and Zell both gasp, recalling the monstrous things they witnessed in the dream world the doctor did to Sis when she was a kid.

Seifer clears his throat to gain everyone's attention again. "He helped me by ensuring I am, and will from now on, be in control of my own mind without outside influence," he clarifies before he passes the attention back to Rinoa with another smile.

"Since I've been here, he's been able to help me regain control over myself. He's taught me how to sustain resistance of outside influences or sustain mental shields to keep that from happening again, all while being in a safe environment to contain any loss of control I may have." Rinoa's eyes finally rise up to meet my own and I see how unsure of her decisions she is within her gaze.

"Fine, that makes sense for you Rin, but you," Zell interrupts, standing from his own seat and pointing his finger at Seifer as his jaw tenses. "Why are you still here, huh? Hiding out instead of cleaning up the mess you made?" Seifer's eyes widen at the accusation for a moment before his typical smugness reappears. He throws his arms out across the top of the table towards Zell.

"What am I supposed to do? I don't give a damn about the people that wish me dead for being under that witch's control, but I also couldn't go back to Garden! What, am I supposed to go back to sitting in a classroom? Waiting around to pass my SeeD exams? With all those kids asking questions and not trusting me to have their backs?" His hands now ball up into fists, slamming into the top of the table. "I'm not a SeeD Zell, and now I never will be! I can't go back to classes, and I can't go with you on missions, so what the hell am I supposed to do?" Zell's eyes are as wide as the rest of ours, realizing we all hadn't thought of those points. What could he do now? The blonde faces away from Seifer but still holds a defensive pose and a scowl on his face. Seifer leans against his knuckles on the table, slouching slightly to bring himself down to Zell's line of sight before he continues.

"The only one who is going to care what happens to me is me, so I did what I needed to do to ensure my own survival. And luckily, Laguna understood where I was coming from and offered up Odine to help however he could, even if it meant sealing myself away from the world." Zell's shocked eyes meet Seifer's, the two blondes staring at each other for a moment as Seifer nods a few times. "Yeah, there were moments where that seemed like the only outcome for me." Zell and I shake our heads at the thought of Seifer being sealed. Would we have come and rescued him like we did Rinoa, I wonder?

"That's not true, Seifer. We care about you. Squall ordered so many search parties for you after the war was over, Zell leading every one of them!" Selphie mentions before Zell's glare silences her. Seifer quirks an eyebrow at her statement, watching Zell's face redden a shade or two. I sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose.

"Either of you could have told us at least. We looked for you both. You could have let us know you were alive," I state without releasing my pinching fingers.

"So you could come rescue us? That's not what we needed, Squall." Rinoa chimes in once more. The door to the conference room swishes open.

"Squall!" Ellone says as she walks quickly towards me and wraps her arms around my shoulders in a hug. Was she always this short, I ask myself as I stand from my seat to give her a proper hug. She leans back, tracing her fingers down my cheek to partially outline my smile. "It's so very good to see you," she says before turning to the rest of the room and nodding, "all of you."

Selphie bounces out of her chair and gives Ell a quick squeeze, unable to control herself before quickly going back and taking her seat between a waving Quistis and a hat-tipping Irvine. I scoot away from my own seat and hold my hand out, offering it to Ellone who smiles and accepts. After she sits, I turn towards everyone else, noticing how Zell and Seifer have both settled back into their chairs, Seifer's eyes are still on the other man. Placing my hands behind my back, I start to pace, readying myself for my speech when I hear a whisper behind me.

"Squall," Ellone whispers, her hand clutching her chest. Gasps ring out from the others while I instinctively reach out to Sis when I see her eyes roll back into her head.

"Ellone!" Laguna yells, but that is the last thing I hear, as my knees buckle and I go down towards the floor. A bluish white light cracks along the veins of my arms and my vision frosts over briefly before the ice shatters into darkness.

~Noctis~

As I stare up at the sky, I lose myself between the glistening emptiness of the universe and the crushing silence of the outdoors. My group and I seem to be stuck out in the middle of nowhere and our energy reserves burned up as quickly as the sunlight, leaving us only one option: camping.

"Hand me that pole would ya, Noct?" Gladio requests, his mood more chipper now that we decided on spending the night outside. I hand him the metal rod and he smiles at me, turning his attention back to building the tent. Ignis hums lightly a few feet away from us, busying himself with cooking the evening meal. Taking a deep breath, I inhale the smells of heaven, considering Ignis was a god when it came to cooking anything. A clicking noise that differs from the crackling of the fire pit catches my ear, snapping my attention in front of me.

"Love the lighting!" Prompto announces as he lowers his camera. He beams a smile at me despite taking my picture and being caught, although I doubt my attention would have stopped him. I smile back at him briefly before looking back up into the night air. Hey Noct? Uh, I was wondering," the photographer states, scooting across the campsite to sit in the fold out chair beside mine. I look into his eyes, seeing a bit of apprehension and wondering what the next words are going to be. The blonde leans closer to me and lowers his voice to avoid being heard by the others. "So I've been takin' pictures of whatever catches my eye, but is there, y'know, anything you want to see?" He finally asks, staring down at his fingers as they adjust the lens of his camera.

Yeah, you.

A smile slowly spreads as I take the camera out of Prompto's hands and raise it up in front of us. Prompto watches my hand holding the camera as I lean towards the blonde and smile, quickly pressing the button on top. The auto flash flickers before a familiar click is heard, both the blonde and I moaning at the blindness we now have. I chuckle and set the camera back in the man's lap before answering him.

"How about snappin' a few pictures of yourself for a change? Photography is better when it includes the photographer." The blonde eyes me for a moment before smiling at my words.

"What, like a selfie?" he asks me sarcastically, chuckling when I roll my eyes at him. Glancing down at the camera in his hands, he slowly nods. "Alright, more of me then, but you know what that means, don't you?" Unsure of his meaning I stare into his eyes, seeing for what may be the first time just how blue they truly are. A smile spreads along his lips as he turns away from me and leans his back into my chest, stretching his arms out straight and gripping the camera in both of his hands. Before I know what is happening, I am blinded once again by another flash and hear another click of a picture being taken. Prompto chuckles as he brings the camera closer to us to see the screen on the back. Pressing a few buttons, he finds the picture he just took and holds it up for me to see.

"Just means more pictures of us," he states through a sigh as he continues to lean against me. My hands slowly slide over the top of his fingers holding the camera and bring the tiny screen closer to see. The two of us look the happiest I have ever seen, if I were honest, an almost natural flow to the closeness we share.

Good.

"Good." I whisper into his ear as my eye catches something in the corner of the viewfinder. Removing a hand from on top of his, I point my finger on the screen. "What's that?" I ask, allowing the blonde a better look at the image to see if he may have an idea. Whatever it is seems to be behind us, we both notice at the same time. The blonde suddenly sits up as we twist around to look for any signs of what the camera caught. Nothing seems out of the ordinary though.

"Maybe it's our visitor again? The photo-bomber?" Prompto offers as an explanation, sneaking another glimpse at the camera's screen. The connections start to be made as the pattern I see slowly morphs into a cloaked figure grasping her hands in front of her.

What the hell?

The blonde and I quickly stand from our chairs and turn to face the back of the site. A woman is there now, standing in the same place she was at in the picture as well with her hands folded in front of her. Her cloak sways behind her from the breeze passing by and her eyes remain closed, as they always are in the pictures she appears in.

"Hello?" I breathe out, taking a step towards her and reaching my hand out to her arm. The woman stands still, making us wonder if she is a statue that was here on the site and we just never noticed, until my fingertips meet the sleeve covering her arm. Once I feel the cold surface of the leather, her arms snap to either side of her with hands wide open, palms facing us.

"Squall."

A voice rings through my mind. I assume it's hers even though her lips never move or even open. A white light spirals along the length of each of her arms towards her hands. Once the light pools in her palms, it shoots out towards us, knocking us both onto our backs and releasing the breath in our lungs on impact.