Ultimate Fantasy
Reunion

The desert seemed to go on forever

The desert seemed to go on forever. There was nothing in sight for miles in all directions, except for the mountains in the west and the southeast. Other than that, sand for miles and miles. Dunes rising as high as a hundred feet up, pits as low as forty feet, and very little vegetation. Snakes slithered along, looking for food, not caring about anything else.

The vehicles moved swiftly over the sand, their large tires finding traction on the slick, unstable sand. There were fifteen in all, most barely functioning. They were in single file to disguise their numbers from any passing patrols. Within each vehicle were several men and women; students and CeeD from Balamb Garden. They were all nervous, veterans and rookies alike. This mission will be the most dangerous one of your lives, Squall had said. We're all risking our lives, our well-beings, our careers for one man. This didn't make sense to a lot of the students. But the CeeD knew it was the right thing to do. Never leave a man behind. If he's gonna die, let him die at home with his friends and family.

The Comm channel the force was using had been silent for hours, ever since they left the Garden in the south near Galbadia City. It suddenly came alive with short orders to begin the split. According to the plan, the majority of the force was to turn northeast and attack the prison there, while the rest came in from the southwest and snuck in where the defenses had been weakened by the sudden attack. As soon as the vehicles began to split up, the Comm channel was quiet again.

Quistis looked out the slit that served as a window. The vehicles had all been fitted with armor coverings to protect the people inside them. To Quistis, it was a nuisance. She wanted to be able to see everything, even though Zell assured her that there was little to see. "Unless you like looking at sand," he joked. "'Cause there's a lot of it, all beige and dull."

Quistis ignored the humor. She wasn't in the mood to laugh. She only had one thing on her mind: Get her love back. Scott was in that damn prison somewhere, and she was gonna find him if it was the last thing she ever did.

Squall looked over at her from across the vehicle. They were riding in the passenger's area with Rinoa and Selphie. Zell was driving, and Irvine was seated next to him up front. Two other vehicles, filled with veteran CeeD, had turned with them back at the split. As Squall looked at her, he couldn't help but feel sorrow. She was seated on her knees, turned towards the slit/window, starring out at the sand. He was trying to think of something to say that would snap her out of this funk of hers, but nothing came to mind. He wasn't good at comforting people. When he tried, it usually came off as cold, emotionless, and not heartfelt, even though he meant it to be. So he simply said nothing.
Hours passed, and they were still miles away from the objective. They weren't worried about being late. The attack wouldn't begin till Irvine sent a coded signal over the Comm system.

During the whole trip, Rinoa and Selphie chatted about the Garden Festival. Quistis couldn't understand how they were able to talk about something so trivial at a time like this, but she figured it was their way of relieving the pressure, much as Scott did by cracking jokes and funny comments.

The memory of him complaining about being woken up started her eyes to well up with tears, but she held them in. She didn't want to cry in front of her friends. Still, the ache was there, and it hurt worse now than ever before. But it was countered with the anticipation of getting him back. Then they would be together forever. She would grab him, hold him, and never let him go. He meant so much to her, and losing him would...

She didn't want to think about it. She shook her head to clear out those thoughts, and noticed Squall starring at her. One look in his eye, and she knew he would do everything in his power to help get Scott back. Even though he didn't have Shiva, which was in Scott's possession, he still had Diablos and Eden. She herself had Ifrit and Cactuar. Zell carried Quetzalcoatl, the Brothers (who were currently in a bit of a disagreement), and Tonberry King, while Irvine had only Bahamut. Selphie carried Siren, Cerebrus, Leviathan, and Pandemona, and Rinoa had Doomtrain, Carbuncle, and Alexander.

She turned back to the slit/window, and just watched the desert go by. As she watched, she asked herself questions. Why was she doing this? Was it because she loved this one man while there were others in the world? She did have her choice. Maybe not at the garden, but still, there were others. So why was she putting herself, her friends, and the entire force of CeeD through this? Was Scott worth THAT much? This question kept coming up, and, ultimately, when she finally stopped asking, the answer was the same.

YES. Emphatically yes. Scott meant more to her than anyone else in the world. In the universe. She was willing to go through hell and back as many times as the Devil himself commanded to get him back. She would not stop. Not ever.

Deep within her, Ifrit growled. She had been noticing this for some time. When her emotions ran high, Ifrit seemed to mirror them. She didn't know how this link had been made, but she felt him. Maybe it was because she had used him so much. It was her GF, so it became aware of her emotions, like a pet. And consequently, she was made aware of his. Even though it startled her, she didn't tell the others. She didn't know why, they were her closest friends. She hadn't told Scott either, and he was closer than any friend.

Mentally, she tried to soothe the rage within the GF. He wanted to attack the people that made her feel this way. He didn't like her being sad or upset. It made him all the angrier.
Finally, after she had calmed him enough, she returned to the normal seated position, eyes closed to keep in the tears. She thought to herself the same thing she willed Scott to hear:

We're coming, Scott, she thought. We're coming...

How much time had passed since the on air torture? Hours? Days? Years? Scott couldn't tell. His only way of knowing what time it was by asking the guard who delivered his breakfast and dinner. The guard was a nice enough fellow, but not nice enough to let him out. They cracked jokes and insulted each other thru the door, both trying to out-do the other. It kept both of them busy, and it kept Scott from going insane. The guard, called Henry, was good at tossing insults, but his jokes were a little on the weak side.

"Hey, Henry," Scott said thru the door.

"Yeah?"

"What do you call a Galbadian Soldier with half a brain?"

"What?"

"A Genius!"

Henry laughed, and said, "What do you get when you cross a CeeD and a Buel?"

"What?"

"A flying moron!"

Scott gave a fake laugh. "A blonde Galbadian and a brunette Galbadian jumped off a bridge. Which hit the water first?"

"I dunno."

"Neither. Both got lost on the way down."

"You're pretty funny, Wolf," Henry said when he stopped laughing.

"You're not bad yourself."

"Gonna be a shame to kill you tomorrow."

"Yeah," Scott replied, leaning against the door. "Well, I don't plan on dying, so don't feel bad."

"How so?"

"My friends'll get me outta here."

"Sure," Henry said with the appropriate amount of sarcasm. "When they do, tell them to let me live ok?"

"You'll be the only one, pal."

"Why is it taking so long?" Quistis asked, a little harshly. It had Selphie almost cringing.

"Quistis, calm down," Squall said. "It takes as long as it takes. We'll be there soon enough."

Quistis sat back down and folded her arms. She hated to wait. Especially since she was so close to getting Scott back. It aggravated her so much that Seifer was this bold. Getting a sea monster to attack a flying ship was quite a feat indeed, and she saluted him for it. But if she found him, she was going to skewer him for it.

Irvine had sent the signal to the other group. The attack on the other side of the base had to be on by now, so they were finally heading toward the prison. It was barely in view. They had started towards it far away so as not to be detected. In ten minutes time, they covered the distance and were at the back door. Squall jumped out of the back, followed closely by Quistis, then Rinoa and Selphie. Irvine got out as Rinoa was trying to pick the door lock with no success.

"Damnit," she exclaimed finally. "This code breaker isn't working. We'll have to find another way in."

"We don't have time," Squall said.

"One door, coming up," Zell exclaimed from the driver's seat of the vehicle, which he had backed up considerably. While everyone was wondering what he meant, he hit the gas, letting out a yell. The vehicle picked up speed quickly, and everyone had to dive for cover when he hit the doorway, taking it all the way thru. All the CeeDs rushed in to secure the room, while Squall and Selphie ran to where the truck had embedded itself in the wall across the way.

"Zell," Selphie called. "You ok?"

"No problem," Zell replied as he emerged from the wreck and walked over to them, a little groggily. "Everything's cool."

"Good job, man," Squall said. "Can you go on?"

"No sweat, bro," Zell said, shaking the last of the cobwebs from his head. "Let's get movin."

"This way," Rinoa called from another door. The Ceeds gathered at the door, and, after charging a spell of some sort, burst thru the door. The guards on the other side had heard the commotion, and were walking over to investigate. They were a little surprised to see twenty CeeD come thru the door with spells blasting. Two of the guards went down first, taking hits in their chests. The others had been quick enough to dodge or duck. As the CeeD poured into the room, the emerged and engadged. Those CeeD that weren't fighting or had broken thru already were heading up the stairwell on the far side of the room.
The room on the level up was empty, and Squall gathered everyone who had gotten thru here. The rest were either dead, wounded, or still fighting. He was glad to see that his friends had made it. seven other CeeD had come up with them.

"Ok," he said. "If I remeber right, the prisoner cells are three flights up."

"But the VIP cells are further," Zell said.

"And a normal cell couldn't hold Scott for this long," Rinoa added.

"Ok, so we head for the VIP cells," Quistis said. Deep inside her, Ifrit roared his agreement.

"Works for me," Squall said. "Let's go."

Scott could hear the fighting in the front and wondered if they were gonna make it thru. His friend outside had run off to join the battle. He was all alone. He didn't like it. He knew Quistis was out there, fighting to get in. She wouldn't give up, not for anything. He was about to get up and bang on the door just for some noise, when he heard a banging a little ways down the cell line. Shortly after, there was another one, closer his way, then another even closer. He leapt up and banged on the door just as Quistis got to his, shouting that he was in here. He heard Squall yell for him to stand back. He did just as two sets of black, sharp fingers broke thru the door. The gripped it, and the door was slowly starting to pull away, until it finally came away. Scott saw Diablos disappear as Quistis ran into the room to embrace him.

"I was so worried about you," she was saying in between kisses. When she had calmed down, they both exited the cell. Everyone was waiting there. Zell was holding his shoes and gloves, while Squall had his Gunblade. Everyone was smiling, glad to see him again. He put his shoes and gloves on, and took his Gunblade from Squall.

"Welcome back, bro," Zell said.

"Good to see you again," Irvine added.

"Good to be seen," Scott said.

"Let's get outta here," Rinoa said. They all turned to leave, and stopped. A fairly large sized robot blocked the way. It wasn't like anything any of them had ever seen. It was almost as tall as the ceiling, but it was man-like, with a missile launcher on it's shoulder, and pistols in it's hands.

"CeeD, prepare to be destroyed."

"Scatter," Squall yelled as it fired its missiles. They impacted on the floor, exploding and sending debris everywhere. "Split up! We'll meet at the exit!"

Scott, Quistis, and another of the CeeD ran down a hallway to their right, while everyone scattered. Now guards had caught on, and were chasing them down the hall. The CeeD took a hit in his back and sprawled to the floor. Scott stopped and was about to turn back, but the CeeD yelled for them to keep going. He didn't argue, as the guards were catching up. They ran up several stairways, until finally ending up out on the roof. They ran thru the door, with Quistis closing it behind them. She then used a fire spell to seal the edges. They ran to the edge of the roof, and stopped dead in their tracks. It had to be maybe two hundred feet to the ground.

As the guards started to break thru the door behind them, Scott considered their options, then chose the one he knew Quistis would hate.

"Quistis, give me a Protect."

She read his mind, and was totally against it. "No way, Scott. Not that way."

"There's no other way," he said. "We gotta jump it."

"No, Scott. There's gotta be another way."

"If you see one, let me know. Otherwise, give me a Protect and hang on."

Reluctantly, Quistis transferred a Protect to him. He received it just as they broke thru. Quickly, he grabbed Quistis and, hugging her close so she would be covered in the spell too, dove off the edge. She had her eyes closed the entire way down. When he thought they were far enough down, Scott cast Protect, and braced for the impact. As it had in the north, the impact made a crater ten feet wide. When the dust cleared, they opened their eyes to see if they were alright. They were.

"Let's not do that again," Quistis said, looking back up.

"I second that," Scott replied. "Let's go."

Together, they ran around to where the vehicles were. Unfortunately, they were surrounded by Galbadians, who saw them. Scott drew his Gunblade and Quistis her Chain Whip, and both dove into battle. Unexpectedly, Ifrit appeared, along with Shiva. Everyone stopped in their tracks, including the CeeD coming out the door. They hadn't been summoned, but had emerged of their own accord. As they attacked, some of the soldiers tried to run. They didn't get far, as the two GFs were much too fast. When all the soldiers were taken care of, the GFs disappeared. After a few seconds, the CeeDs all ran over to Scott and Quistis.

"What was that all about," Squall asked.

"We didn't summon them," Scott said. They came out on their own."

"It's true, Squall," Quistis said.

"We'll discuss it later. Let's get outta here."

The surviving CeeD boarded the vehicles, except for the one that had opened the door. Together, they moved away from the prison. Irvine sent the retreat order, and the battles tapered off until every CeeD that had survived was back in the vehicles and returning home. The Galbadians were confused. They had gotten so close to getting thru, but had retreated at the last second. It wasn't until they heard that a prisoner, THE prisoner, was gone that they figured it out.

Scott and Quistis were left to themselves in the back of one vehicle to rejoice in seeing each other. Barely a word was spoken between them on the way back to Galbadia City, but much kissing occurred.

Several hours later, everyone was back aboard Balamb Garden. The wounded had been rushed to Dr. Kadowaki for treatment. The worst were taken first, the worst of those was a slit stomach and a lot of bleeding. The rest were treated by nurses and other doctors that had been brought aboard for this purpose. Dr. Kadowaki expressed her joy at seeing Scott by complaining that he had taken too long to get back.

Squall called Scott and Quistis up to Cid's office, where he told them that they had done well. He was about to say something else, when the monitor on the desk flickered to life.
"Squall," Irvine said from the bridge where he had gone to give moving orders. "We're picking up another transmition, and you gotta see it. I'll patch it thru." His face was replaced by Seifers.

"You DAMNED CEED!! HOW DARE YOU RESPONED THAT WAY!! I SWEAR I'LL GET YOU ALL!! ONE DAY!! JUST YOU WAIT!!" The screen then went blank.

"Bite me, Seifer," Scott said, and, putting his arm around Quistis, walked back to the elevator.

"Amen, brother," Squall said silently as he watched them go.