"Laguna, why didn't you tell Squall about what's happening in Galbadia?" Kiros asked his friend as he did paperwork in his office.

"I thought it was better he didn't know after all" Laguna said scratching his head and throwing the work off his desk "Man why do they have to make these documents so hard to figure out?"

"Obscure, as some would call it" Kiros informed his friend and laughing at the fact he hadn't changed as much as he had thought over the past nineteen years.

"Ah whatever, I'm going to go see Elle. Where is she?"

"She's in the greenhouse tending to the flowers," Kiros said speaking for Ward

"Alright! I'll go see her and be back in time for the meeting!" Laguna cried walking out happily. He stopped at the door "Oh and uh…guys, could you finish my paperwork for me?"

"Finish? You haven't even started!" Ward's eyes said scolding him

But Laguna was already down the hallway.

Just for Ellone Laguna had requested a greenhouse at the end of the Esthar Palace. It reminded her of the orphanage she had once lived at when her adoptive mother, Raine, died from childbirth. Laguna hadn't said anything to her but Ellone knew the flowers reminded him of Raine, although they were nothing in comparison to the ones she grew.

Ellone walked around tending to her flowers while humming a song she had heard Raine play on the radio many times. Her eyes looked up when she thought she heard footsteps approaching her.

Laguna was behind her, bent over and pretending to pant.

"I got here as fast as I could! That paperwork's a real killer!"

"Uncle Laguna!" Ellone giggled

They sat down at the nearest bench, admiring the beautiful color around them. Ellone looked up at Laguna, studied him for a moment, and then smiled.

"You miss her," She suddenly blurted out. She tried to cover her mouth like she had told a terrible secret, but it was true.

Laguna looked at Ellone and slowly nodded his head "Everyday, I just wish…" a hand rested on his.

"It's alright. She's not mad at you, and look how far you've come. I bet she's quite proud of you"

Laguna scratched the back of his head, but his expression showed he still seemed troubled. "yea, good 'ol Clumsy, whiny Laguna is now the president of Esthar. Yet I couldn't be there for her. I would've given this whole country just to see her face one last time…no that's not right. What am I thinking?"

Ellone frowned at him. Laguna noticed this and put a broad smile back on his face.

"I'm so glad you're back Ellone! It's been boring without you here, these guys never let me do anything fun!"

Ellone smiled back "I'm glad too, I never want to use my powers again…that way they'll never take me away" she closed her eyes, remembering the years she spent separated from Laguna and the whole reason was because of her unique ability to take people back into the past.

"I'm sorry" Laguna said softly

"For what?"

"For not protecting you, none of that would've happened if I had kept those soldiers away from you"

Ellone shook her head "Don't blame yourself" she told him.

A small silence followed them.

"Are you going to tell Squall about Galbadia?"

"He doesn't need to know. I think I can handle this myself"

"Are you sure?"

"No…"

"So eet iz true. Odin vwas killed," Doctor Odine said staring at a circle of empty sword slots. The candidates of Squad A looked around the room. It was huge and relatively clean compared to the rest of the ruins.

Coreena spoke up "Odin? You mean that ancient G.F. we learned about in class?"

"I thought he would join your party once you defeated him" Ellyn wondered while walking forward to get a better view of the room.

"How do you know he died?" Said Edward

Odine glanced back at them, ignoring their comments. He walked to the other side of the room and told everyone, including Nida, "SEARCH!"

Squall put his gunblade onto the dusty earth. He then began to reminisce the past, he had acquired Odin after many puzzles and battles, only to lose him at the hands of Seifer on the Lunatic Pandora. After that he had obtained Gilgamesh, a powerful ally that helped defeat Seifer, but was new to the job of "G.F." so his attacks weren't effective at times.

Squad B, the squad he was in charge of, was in a small clearing in the ruins taking a break from the fighting. He wondered what Odine was possibly after in the ruins, was he here for Odin? And if so, what would he do once he found out Odin was killed?

"Hey what's that?" a student from the squad asked.

"What's what?" all three boys were looking off in a particular direction

"I don't see anything," one of them said

Squall grabbed his gunblade and got up as curiosity overtook him. He walked towards the small group until suddenly his hand tightened on the handle of his blade.

"Get away from there!" he yelled, the students looked at him confused. Squall had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach, and his head felt unbelievably light all of a sudden.

The boys tried to move but all of them stopped to grab their heads.

"WATCH OUT!" Squall yelled running over to them. A huge burst of fire magic was aiming for them and blue light was shooting out of everywhere as more magic was summoned from its unknown host. Squall managed to dive and save his squad from certain danger, but an unidentified force suddenly grabbed his mind.

"DIE…" it whispered violently into his mind "DIE…ALL SeeD MUST…DIE"

Squall tried hard to get control of his mind again but the floor behind him was shaking excessively. The earth started to crack. An earthquake spell!

Squall yelled at the tops of his lungs to anyone that could respond "GET HELP NOW!"

He looked up at the students. Two had run off from his call to get help while one was passed out cold on the floor, stricken by a lightening spell. Squall crawled closer to him and dragged him away as fast as he could while the vibration increased. Words still rang in his mind.

"Squall!" a low female voice rang out

Squall struggled to look over at Quistis as she and her squad, including the two from his, came over.

"Q-Quistis! Use Blue Magic, summon Mighty Guard!"

There was no time to waste. Everyone was suddenly floating as the ground crumbled below. Squall, who was able to think more clearly, passed the unconscious student to Quistis.

"You're bleeding," she said worriedly

"Don't worry about it. We have to find the others" Squall said, now aware of how many cuts were on his body from the earthquake. Quistis nodded her head and looked at the Squad B students.

"Go find Xu!" she ordered. Quistis then turned towards her group.

"See if the others are alright"

"We need to get out of here!" Edward cried. The clean tiles of Odin's room were being hit with rubble from the ceiling. The girls shielded themselves from it and turned to Nida. He looked at Odine who was still trying to find whatever he was looking for.

"Let's go!" Nida said running over to him

"Not yet!" Odine yelled back

"C'mon what're you trying to do? Get us all killed?" He picked up the small doctor and held him tight as he made a rush for the door.

"LET ME GO I AM NOT DONE YET!"

"You're kidding!"

Squad A was following closely behind Nida, they looked below to see many fire spells under them. Coreena tried to run faster but just then the staircase started cracking from another earthquake. She fell down to her knees after stepping on a crumbling step, she tried to get up but the whole thing collapsed from under her. She shrieked as her hands flailed around to catch onto anything, they caught Edward's hand.

"Don't let go!" she yelled with tears forming in her eyes, her legs dangled helplessly. She seemed so sure she would fall.

"I won't!" said Edward, he turned to Ellyn "Get out of here, we'll be fine!"

Ellyn's feet moved hesitantly, she didn't want to leave them behind. She gasped and stepped forward as she saw Edwards step start to break. Fortunately it seemed Edward was finally finding his strength pulled Coreena up. But before she could find her footing her hand slipped through Edward's. She let out a shrilling cry as she fell to the depths below.

"Edward!" Ellyn cried. He stood on his step staring at where Coreena had been just seconds ago, he seemed petrified. The step he was on finally crumbled under his deadweight. Ellyn backed away slowly as her leader fell to his death like Coreena before him.

Back at the base of the ruins everyone was running fro their lives. "Head for the airships, hurry!" Xu yelled over the terrified screams and magic.

Kain was still looking for Squad A when Nida, carrying a very angry looking Odine, whizzed past him. Not too far behind him was a small girl. Kain ran up to her and noticed she was slightly shaking.

"Where's the rest of the Squad?" he asked

"Gone…" she said. Kain could barely hear her voice over the commotion.

He and the girl made a run for the airship. The ground started to shake again, another earthquake was hitting. Remains of the nearby architecture tumbled down. Kain looked behind him when he heard a loud scream of pain. The girl was wedged under the ruble trying to get free. Kain ran back and started moving bits and pieces as fast as he could.

"Help Me," she whispered, gasping for air as her lungs caved in from the weight. Kain started to dig harder but stopped when a hand pushed him aside. Nida began digging harder and faster in an effort to free her. In the digging, Ellyn was able to crawl out. Her face told the two that she was in a lot of pain. Kain caught a glimpse of her legs, they looked heavily damaged.

"This girl is in my Squad, I'll take care of her" Nida said lifting her into his arms and running off, Kain wasted no time following him.

Suddenly a bright light flashed through Kain's eyes, shortly after he started to deal with a pounding headache. He gripped his head tightly, fighting hard to keep himself conscious. Time became slow as he descended onto the ground, pictures were flooding into his mind like mad and his heart was pounding. He could feel heat on his back and it seemed to be getting more intense but there was nothing he could do through the pain in his head. it was like a bomb was going off inside his head, he was on fire! Then he felt a pair of strong hands grip him around the waist, carrying him, he looked up to see Xu in the airship and the sound of Squall's necklace and belts shaking beside him.