It had not been a good morning for the grats.

And if it hadn't been a good morning for the grats, then it certainly hadn't been a good morning for Dr. Kadowaki. It was too damned early for bangs and booms, the muttered curses of overweight men and the roar of construction equipment. Outwardly calm, though privately wondering how many bodies she could bury before the crew noticed she had hijacked their bulldozer, she sipped her second cup of coffee and silently surveyed the chaos in the training center. She rarely felt sympathy for the creatures contained within its walls, especially the grats that had sliced open hundreds of students over the years, but there was something about seeing their detached limbs twitch on the ground that stirred the healer within her. Attracted to the stench of death rising from that thick yellow sap, electric blue corpse-flies buzzed and dipped around the broken stems as they were loaded for transport. She snarled, having never been able to get accustomed to their cloying aroma. Plant, animal, whatever they were, their heavy perfume always had smelled too life-like to smell so dead, too close to the scent of flowers and far too close to the odor of the battlefield.

A forklift rolled over one of the smaller grats and released a thick cloud of rancid vapor into the air. She sighed. It didn't matter that their rank pollen was responsible for hundreds of students vomiting on her exam room floors, nor did it matter that she had lost count of the thousands of sutures sewn into flesh ripped open from their jagged spines, the poor creatures didn't deserve such a terrible fate.

Then again, none of the children she had treated deserved to bear so many scars from carnivorous barracuda-plants, so she was glad to see the ugly bastards exterminated.

She looked down at her coffee and noticed a thin film of dust floating on the dark liquid. Disgusted, she tossed it to the side and held the mug's handle on the crook of one aging finger. With the early-morning buzz of chainsaws and shouts of destruction crews reverberating through the halls of Balamb Garden, sleeping in was impossible, but now she couldn't even drink a simple cup of coffee. If she discovered which of those clumsy idiots knocked a hole in the soundproof walls of the training center, she was going to make certain that the idiot in question felt a great deal of pain. She knew a thing or two about causing pain.

She was a medical professional, after all.

Another dead grat was loaded onto the rusty platform of the disposal cart with a sickening slap, its long tendrils already shorn and bound for eventual sale to research facilities. It pleased her to know that in spite of her misgivings about closing the training center, the headmistress had listened to her concerns about wasting compounds valuable to science. Xu had laughed, saying that the only thing she was worried about was how much the destruction was going to cost, but she heeded the doctor's advice and carefully screened the company hired to transport the poisonous plants to the pharmaceutical centers.

Don't worry, doc. I'm not going to let some tattooed maniac start snorting grat dust on school grounds. If they want to do that, then they're going to have to pay me street prices instead of the bullshit money the medicine makers have offered.

That is far from funny, headmistress. That pollen could become one of the most potent intoxicants we've seen since...

Oh relax. I've checked their records, then checked them again. No need to be so damned paranoid all the time.

Fishing in her pocket for a cigarette, she carefully watched one group of sweating men as they sawed the sticky stems from the grats' corpulent bodies. She frowned, her suspicious raptor eyes wary of any allowed in contact with the plants. The rest of the staff seemed content to allow the crew to complete their work without supervision, but not her. With age came wisdom and with wisdom came wariness. Those plants were far more dangerous than any other beast that had previously lurked in the shadows of palms and ferns. She knew that from her own naivety-shattering experience.

Fresh out of graduate school, the young doctor was eager to heal the world. No mere clinic would do for the medical prodigy. She had a vision. Turning down proposals to continue working in the halls where she completed her residency, declining opportunities to treat patients in the most advanced facilities Deling City had to offer, she instead chose to work for a couple that shared her unique vision. They were going to change the world.

The Kramers were young and inspiring and wanted to better the state of mankind as much as she did. They needed her gumption and sass, her brains and attitude. They needed her. For the often-times pompous Kadowaki, the one that bucked under her mentors and professors, the promise of being the chief healer of an entire military academy was too exciting an opportunity to ignore. For such a young practitioner, chances like hers were rare indeed. The clinic and the students were to be hers.

A series of rape exams was not what Kadowaki expected during her first month as the sole medical authority for the new school. Lacerations and bruises, sure. Burns and scrapes, bullet holes and birth control, yes. She knew that she would be both medic and psychiatrist, the one to whom all students would turn when they had medical or personal crises. She thought she had been prepared for that. Not much older than the cadets she was treating, it came as quite a shock that she should be crying with her patients instead of merely dispensing medications. Had it not been for one student seeking treatment over and over again for allergy-related symptoms during the periods when so many girls were coming to her for help, she might have taken weeks to determine the source of the drug that found its way into so many sodas and cups of tea.

Pupils equal, round, and bilaterally reactive to light. Appears to be well-nourished and in no immediate distress. Erythema and exudates noted in posterior pharynx. Sulfurous odor noted on patient's breath. Patient states he is studying chemical weapons under Prof. Aki and has been training in TC with repeated exposure to organic toxins excreted by grats. Reports feelings of hypersomnia in addition to respiratory complaints. Recommend sequence of histamine blocker and low-level potion, increased vitamin intake, and follow-up appointment in 2 weeks.

All fancy medical jargon aside, the boy had stunk. His breath, his skin, his hair. Each of his visits meant that the clinic had to be aired out before she could allow another patient on her exam tables. She would have attributed his odor to poor hygiene if one unlucky girl hadn't mentioned how nauseated she felt as she placed her clothes in an evidence bag. Kadowaki noted the peculiar scent of that smelly boy seemed to emanate from that plastic bag, so after she completed her unpleasant duties, she summoned Headmaster Kramer to initiate an investigation.

Though the odor of the grats still made her stomach turn and lurch, she smiled. Never had she so enjoyed the expulsion of a Garden student. Clever though he might have been to refine a sleeping powder from the grat pollen, he still wasn't as intelligent as the pretty new doctor. It was at her suggestion that records were kept of every student in and out of the training center, how long they were there, and what sort of training they completed. Not only did this aid in maintaining numbers for restocking the beasts, but it eased her mind to know that any student (or instructor, for that matter) would be held accountable for any transgressions resulting from misuse of the training center or the creatures contained therein. She had often been amused at the students and their attempts to hide in the infamous 'secret area' for their romantic trysts. Those late-night busts by the Disciplinary Committee weren't just random, after all. She had always sworn that she'd be damned before she'd allow another student to be harmed if it could at all be prevented. Training accidents were one thing, but malicious attacks caused by teenage hormones and psychological imbalances were another altogether.

Light flickered and died as she finally found a cigarette and lit the tip. Heavy smoke curled about her shoulders and settled in her tight bun as she breathed in the bitter flavor of her Red Giants. Inhaling deeply, she held the smoke in her lungs and released it with a faint sigh. The destruction of the training center was just one more item on a decades-long list of new things her old eyes had seen. She figured she may as well celebrate it the same way she celebrated everything else: a few smokes and another cup of coffee, maybe a stiff drink if nobody checked in that afternoon.

"Smoking isn't allowed on campus, doctor. It's not a good example for the students and it's none too healthy, either."

Dr. Kadowaki shrugged, but otherwise ignored the approach of the headmistress. She had seen dismemberment and death, heard far too many screams and gurgles and choked sobs for some upstart girl to lecture her on either proper conduct or the hazards of tobacco. It seemed that her sanity sometimes hinged on those sweet puffs of nicotine, so she was going to keep smoking as long and as much as she wanted, damn it.

"And speaking of unhealthy habits, do you think I could bum one of those off you?" Xu grinned when Kadowaki rolled her eyes. She liked the old bitch and respected her opinions, even if they didn't agree on a single damned thing. "I left mine back in the office."

"Bad example for the students, headmistress." Kadowaki shook one from her pack and offered the filtered tip to her new boss. She wasn't surprised when Xu snatched two and produced a lighter from the confines of her perfectly pressed uniform. Neat. Exact. Professional. In all her years at Garden, she had never seen such immaculate seams. Xu had a unique approach to administration, one involving equal parts heavy praise and even heavier threats, yet her methods seemed to be effective. As likely to smack a student in the back of the head for cheating on an exam as she was to drop to his ear and whisper the answer, the headmistress was a strange woman. Smoking on school grounds was one thing, but running about with wrinkles in one's clothes? It was tantamount to the worst blasphemy. The students seemed to thrive under her disciplined madness, so it made little difference to Kadowaki. They were behaving, and considering the events of the past year, that was all that mattered.

If she had to deal with another fire alarm or mass evacuation because of those damned trigger-happy Trepies...

Cigarette wagging as she spoke, Xu joked, "Well, since you're smoking lights, I don't think it's too bad of an example."

"Hm. So if I switch back to full-flavor, should I expect to be penalized?"

Xu chuckled and breathed in the taste of tobacco and dust. She didn't smoke often, but she had lately been stressed with the closing of the training center, plans to utilize the empty space for an open-air gymnasium and pool, and the staggering amount of bullshit that came from dealing with construction crews and building codes. A short track and a pool weren't cheap, yet the gil saved from no longer having to carry insurance policies on five hundred students made the initial investment well worth it. The cost of maintenance for the facility, not to mention the headache of feeding those damned animals, was far more than what the school could afford, so she was eager to spend whatever amount was necessary to ensure that the students had a safe place to exercise.

Jerking her head towards the progress being made, she remarked, "It's a good thing I had the T-Rexaurs cleaned out last week. This lazy bunch of assholes wouldn't know what to do if they had to move anything that weighed more than their lunchboxes."

"Not paying them by the hour, I hope. They'll be here all week if that's the case." Kadowaki grinned. Last week had been very entertaining. The previous crew was surprised to discover that they weren't disposing of rats or roaches, but four two-ton reptiles with arm-length incisors. She had to give Xu credit. That series of blizzaga spells released into the training center's closed ventilation system was a stroke of genius. Accustomed to their warm tropical environment, the sudden burst of frigid air into such damp surroundings stunned flora and fauna alike, withering glossy leaves and slowing speedy reptilian legs. When the headmistress and Instructor Trepe euthanized the sluggish beasts, all that was left was to roll their carcasses onto a truck and ship them out. The crew quickly finished and sped away, calling the next day to say that they were terminating their contract. They dealt with dead mice and pigeons, not giant lizards. That call on speaker-phone had been a huge hit at the monthly staff meeting.

"So what brings you here to the scene of the great grat massacre, headmistress?"

Xu took another long pull from her cigarette, then tossed the spent filter on the ground. She was pleased with how quickly things were moving along, but something wasn't quite right. It was all part of her dream. She wanted her students to have the education she never did, one with literature and history, art and music and philosophy. They were going to learn how to construct poems, not bombs. They were going to learn how to plant seeds instead of land mines. Her students were going to learn about the world, not learn how to destroy it. She knew that she should have been happy that the first stages were underway and Balamb Garden would one day be the peaceful institution she dreamed of, but there was something troubling her and she couldn't place it.

There had been a time in her life when she wanted to learn the violin, to imitate the pretty sounds that haunted her sleep and left her humming some long-forgotten songs. Life as one of the faceless Balamb orphans had never given her the chance. The only instrument she ever played was the shining black handgun always at her side. Quistis had once asked her where she heard that tune and Xu was never able to answer, instead only able to suggest they get in just one more training session, just one more round at the range. That was how they were going to be the best, after all. It would never have done to tell her that she could smell wood-smoke and jasmine, could feel herself being spun in the air by a laughing old woman and hear a tiny brown pup yipping at her heels when she hummed that melody. It didn't matter anyway. The old woman and the dog were both dead, if they had ever existed at all. It was just a stupid song crooned by a corpse, the music drowned by the familiar lullaby of gunfire.

Toying with a scar on the back of her hand, Xu muttered, "I just thought I'd swing by and check on things before I met Q for lunch."

"Reporting to an instructor? My, my, my! The mighty headmistress has to check in with a mere schoolteacher to make her decisions, eh?"

Xu said nothing. Looking at her now-silent companion, Kadowaki observed the tight lines around her mouth and the dark hair framing her sharp features. How old was she now? It was so hard to tell with her. Xu had always been an odd girl, the first to jump in a fight and the last one to be dragged kicking and cursing from the brawl. Until those boys Almasy and Leonhart logged more hours under her care, the woman standing next to her had once been her most frequent visitor. Xu had more bruises and scrapes than any of the other students, some from silly dares, but most from her near-daily fistfights. The girl liked to fight, there was no doubt about that, but when it involved one of the boys saying something about her Quistis, she proved that she was learning all the deadly lessons she was being taught.

As she grew older and began concentrating on the difficult SeeD exams, she still spent time with the doctor, sometimes bringing Quistis along for a few rounds of Triple Triad, other times simply stopping by to chat. It was on one of those visits that Kadowaki was first impressed with the intellect of Xu's younger, prettier friend, then shamed when the skinny twerp defeated her at cards. Xu had teased her for years over that match, always saying that her Q was smarter than any old doctor and would one day do great things. Kadowaki had been grateful for the calming presence of the spectacled girl, certain that if it hadn't been for their close friendship, she would one day be performing an autopsy on her favorite student instead of simply bandaging another of her wounds.

"Speaking of your friend, she's not been acting quite right, has she?"

Xu's mouth turned up in a wry smirk. "Quistis is just fine."

"Oh fine. Yes, yes." Kadowaki was perfectly willing to stand there all day while Xu worked up the courage to bare her problems, but it was just seconds before she was shifting her feet and acting much like the broken child she used to be. "Alright. Spill it, kid. I know damned well you didn't come down here to watch those sweating apes dissect grats."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"I've known you since you were nine years old, spitting teeth down my sink after getting your sassy little ass beaten to a pulp. You don't come to see me anymore unless something's bothering you."

Xu pressed her tongue to the inside of her upper lip and felt the ridged scar from one of her many fights. It had only been one tooth that afternoon, and the boy that punched her hadn't been able to eat solid foods for three weeks after Xu was finished with him. It had taken her two years and a lot of apologies, but Nida was now one of her closest friends. "I told you. I'm just checking the progress so that I can tell Quistis..."

"And I told you..." The doctor lit another cigarette and tried unsuccessfully to blow a smoke ring over her head. "...that you're full of shit."

Xu felt like fidgeting. She always felt like some half-grown kid when she was around Dr. Kadowaki. She wanted to hurry and ask her question so she could meet Quistis for lunch. It was rare that Quistis ever suggested they go out, so she couldn't help feeling a bit excited. She had been worried about her and wanted a chance to talk to her over a few drinks. "Look, I'm in a hurry and I don't have time to uh..."

"Don't say 'uh'. It sounds puerile and unprofessional. Think, then speak. I'll wait."

That seemed to rattle Xu's pride. Kadowaki soon found herself nose-to-nose with one very pissed off headmistress with a very loud mouth. In the span of two shouted minutes, she learned that not only had Quistis been far from fine, but that she wasn't eating enough, she was having terrible headaches, she spent too much time reading some strange old book she found in the library, there had been a leak in their dorm, they were out of tequila, and somebody had stolen Xu's favorite ballpoint pen.

When Xu stopped screaming and Kadowaki was able to hear again, she noticed that the work crew was timidly gathered around their equipment, unsure if they should continue or call it a day. She gave them a saucy wave, urging them to continue. She wanted those stinking grats out so she could breathe properly again.

"So I gather that things are not, in fact, fine and dandy?"

"You...ugh!" Xu threw her hands in the air and stormed out of the training center, but not before she yelled, "When do you plan on retiring, anyway? Aren't you getting kind of old to be such a bitch?"

Kadowaki watched her go with a small smile on her lips. She couldn't possibly retire when those stupid kids needed her so much. It had been that way for years. Garden would fall apart without her.

Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a pen, wrote a short note on the back of her hand, then finished her cigarette. If she didn't remind herself to cancel a few appointments and free some time, she knew that she'd end up with a full schedule for later that afternoon, when Xu would undoubtedly show up at her office with a deck of cards and a lot of questions.


Oh my, how lovely! Cid! Come look at the sky! Come see how pink it is!

Well! That's something, alright! We better bring in the clothes. Those look like some serious rain clouds.

No, no, my love. Those aren't rain clouds.

No? Then what are they?

Why, they're pink!

I think that's because the sun is setting...

And that's all that matters, isn't it?!

All that matters?

Of course! I'll grab the clothes from the line and you go start some tea. Seifer is riding those clouds and he'll be here soon.

Seifer? What are you talking about? It just looks like a rainstorm to me.

Rain? That's no rainstorm. Why, he's coming to see us!

Wait. Coming to see us? Nobody has heard from him since...

Don't be silly, my love. He's been in good hands.

I don't understand. What are you...?

Best make a few sandwiches too. Hurry now! I can smell the rain on his clothes. He'll be cold and hungry.

I thought you said those aren't rain clouds.

Of course they are! Don't be ridiculous!


"Seifer!"

Cid squinted against the midday sunlight and rapidly crossed his arms over his head. Holding aloft two frosty cans of Trabia's finest imported pale ale, he hoped that Seifer wouldn't notice that he had spilled half the beer on top of his head. Half-drunk and unsteady on his feet, he was already queasy from the heat and a bit nervous about talking to his most willful son. Had anyone even asked him why he felt such a pressing need to speak with him, he doubted he would have been able to answer. The need was there and that was enough. It had to be done.

But that didn't stop him from being nervous as hell about it.

Life had been pleasant for Cid the past few months. While never a handyman, his heavy hands were growing used to the struggles of living far from civilization. He was a big man and had never been meant for hiding behind a desk. Headmaster. That was one of the worst decisions he had ever made, even though it hadn't truly been his decision at all. He had grown soft and fat behind that desk and hated every second of it. Building fences and scratching rows in the hard-packed earth for his beloved wife to plant her herbs was the sort of work he felt that he was meant to do. Edea certainly seemed to enjoy life away from the world, reigning over the rocky landscape of Centra, so he was perfectly content to keep her happy there. Centra called to her. He had once asked her why she loved that Hyne-forsaken land so much, especially when it was so difficult to reach the mainland for supplies, but she simply smiled that particular smile of hers...

Yes. It was better to keep her happy. The storms weren't quite as bad then.

He waved again, grinning broadly when he saw that his son noticed him. Seifer liked to escape the small hut by the sea, oftentimes disappearing for days at a time on his fishing expeditions, but he had a plan to steal his attention that afternoon. It was impossible to fish without a pole, and Cid had taken all six of the antique rods from the shed and carefully concealed them behind a stubby cedar. Cooler full of beer, requisite tin can full of squirming bait, and an empty bucket just waiting to be filled with warty Centran perch, he knew his scheme was destined for success. So few things in his life had been successful; his wife despised him, thought him lower than the worms struggling in the can at his feet and his children were monsters and killers. Seifer had always been his boy, his biggest pride and his biggest disappointment. Surely Hyne would smile on a pleasant afternoon with his favorite son. "Over here, my boy! How about a little contest?"

More bored than intrigued with Cid's attempt to snare him, Seifer slowed his pace and cut through the razor-thin blades of coastal grass to the crumbling log Cid was using for a bench. He meant to take a walk to escape the heat of the sun with a quick dip in the shade of a forgotten tide pool, but his bumbling foster father often proved to be excellent entertainment. Taking the offered beer, he popped the top and gulped the delicious bitter liquid, though he declined a seat next to the old man. He wondered how long Cid would pretend to be comfortable sitting on an ant-ridden hunk of wood, getting his ass chewed on by those fiery red fuckers. The fire ants in Centra were unlike the ants anywhere else and he had the scars on his back to prove it. That bratty Selphie once shook a jar of the tiny bastards into his bed and he had spent the better part of the night swatting and swearing as he tried to squish the army crawling over his six-year old body. If it hadn't been for Quistis slapping her in the back of the head, Seifer was certain that he would have began his career as a killer at a much younger age. He had been grateful then, but that was years ago and he was nothing more than a child. Quistis had proven to be a stuck-up cunt that couldn't even be bothered to see if he was even alive, so she was more than welcome to fuck herself all the way to hell.

Cid shifted. The damn bugs were eating him alive. "Nothing like a...ouch! Nothing like a cold beer, eh?"

"We could drink inside the house. Fewer ants."

Cid chuckled and took a sip of his beer. They could have shared a brew indoors, but that was too close to Edea and her mad gardens of thistle and thyme. It felt wrong to be near her when he spoke to Seifer. Far better to leave her with her flowers and blooms, speaking to the bees and the earth. "No, I thought we might have a little competition. Feel up to challenging an old man to a little fishing compet...?"

"No."

"Don't think you can out-fish me, eh?"

Seifer snorted. It was ridiculous. The old bastard couldn't even zip his pants without ripping a hole in his nut sack, so how the hell could he expect to bait a hook? "I don't think so. If you want to explain to your wife how you strangled yourself to death with a fucking length of fishing line, then..."

"But you love to fish! We used to do it together all the time!"

Amusement quickly turned to sour anger. They had fished, alright. They had done a lot of things back then. Some mornings it was fishing, other days it was just watching the clouds roll on the horizon or searching for man-eating tiger tracks. Cid would rouse a much-younger Seifer from sleep, steal a loaf of bread from the pantry, grab a couple of poles, then they'd spend their afternoons having daring adventures by the sea. Cid used to tell him that there was a fierce monster that lived beneath the waves, one that would snap up the girls and eat them for lunch, so they had to patrol the coast every day. Seifer had once thought that the greatest adventure of all, protecting the fair maidens from monster attacks.

We have to keep the girls safe from that foul beast. 'Tis our duty, young squire!

Yeah! We gotta catch it before it hurts one of them! That's what knights do, right?

That's right!

Well, we should bring Selphie with us next time.

Oh? And why Selphie?

We need bigger bait than worms to catch it.

And why not Quistis? Afraid to risk your favorite playmate?

Her?! She'd probably try to talk it to death. Besides, it's not like she's even a real girl, so that monster wouldn't eat her anyway.

Zell had never been invited to slay the beast, nor had Squall or Irvine. It wasn't until years later, when a drowsy Quistis mentioned that the rest of them always thought it unfair that Cid took special notice, that he even realized Matron sent Cid to tend to him.

We hated you on those days.

Why the fuck did you hate me?

Are you kidding? You were so mean to all of us...

I wasn't 'mean'. You deserved everything I dished out.

You cut my hair, you bastard!

Well, you're the dumb bitch that fell asleep with bubblegum in your hair. What was I supposed to do?

You gave me a bald spot!

You wouldn't quit squirming!

You were chasing me with scissors!

You wouldn't sit still!

You, you...!

I what, Trepe?

Urgh! You drive me crazy!

You're just jealous that he took me fishing and you had to babysit Chicken Wuss all the time.

No, we just hated it when Cid would take you out to play and leave the rest of us behind. I think Matron made him do it because she felt guilty after yelling at you.

Felt sorry for me? Fuck that shit.

Aw, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings...

Shut the hell up, Trepe. And take your fucking hands off my face!

Seifer, don't act like...

And slide over. You're taking up the entire goddamned bed.

Fucking sea serpent. Yeah, right. It had all been a pity trip to make the mean little bully feel special. Lies. Matron had lied, Cid had lied, Quistis had lied. None of them knew a goddamned thing about honor or pride or the rest of the bullshit in the stories they once told him. Pouring the rest of the beer onto the sandy ground, Seifer muttered, "We didn't do jack-shit together, old man."

Cid fumbled with the tab on his can, flicking his thumbnail against it again and again to hear the hollow twang of the half-empty container. "We did. We used to do everything together before..."

"Fuck you, Kramer. I've got things to do." Chucking the can into the grass, Seifer snatched a pole and stormed off on the path he left before he heard his name.