Two ‹ The Plan of Change ›

"You're kidding me." Zell wrinkled up his forehead in concentration at the card I had played before looking up. "You're going to play that one?"

I smiled and nodded, caressing his calf with the top of my foot as I rested my chin in my hands, propping my elbows onto the table-top. "Yep."

We'd been playing Triple Triad for the past two hours on the deck of the yacht he'd chartered for our entire three-week honeymoon. It had a single mast and a back-up engine in case the winds died. Zell said that he'd been taking lessons on how to steer the yacht since he had decided that this is what he wanted to do. It was the most awesome and romantic idea… and it actually happened!

A little alteration to my initial plan, I decided to go ahead and strip down to my lavender swimsuit the minute we'd been away from the dock, Zell teasing me with whistles and applause while shouting "Take it off, baby! Take it off!" I think my entire body had turned redder than I had ever been in my life, and I'd protested and told him to 'Be quiet! You're not making it any easier!' He'd chuckled maniacally and hugged me close, as guys usually do, nibbling on different parts of my neck and shoulders until I'd been laughing so hard that I thought I would pass out.

I had to admit that these two hours seemed more like five minutes.

Of course, time always flew when I hung out with Zell, and both of us really enjoyed playing Triple Triad. Zell had some of the better cards, but I had a little more experience with the game mechanics. Not much, but enough to give me a little bit of an even keel with him. The only problem that kept coming up was a sudden active imagining of our impending… uh… intimacy. I kept shying away from images and feelings of us sharing such a beautiful connection, but then my mind would tenaciously go back to every romantic movie I had ever watched with those same moments, encouraging a feeling and a desire that… scared me.

I flushed for the hundredth time just as Zell voiced a thoughtful, "Hm."

Resting his chin in hand while tapping the sides of his few remaining cards onto the table-top, he stretched a leg out and stroked my leg with his toe. I shivered and every once in awhile fisted my hand to try and keep from imagining what the other strokes and caresses would feel like-

-ahem-

"Okay. Here. Take that. Mine, mine, mine, mine." Zell grinned at me. "I won."

Gathering the cards, I wrinkled my nose at him as I let him choose the one he got to keep. He read my expressions and picked the least worthwhile one, acting all excited when he put it in his deck, even though I knew he already had at least 10 cards that were twice as good. I stroked his calf, my insides rolling and flipping all over the place. You are so cute, I thought with a sigh and an inward growth to the intensity of my feelings.

Zack would have scoffed. At best.

"Another match? Or do you want to do some swimming or something?" he asked as he stretched, looking absolutely fabulous in his amber shades, white tank-tee, and blue shorts. His tone and muscular arms rippled as he moved, making me remember how firm yet gentle-

I cleared my throat and lowered my eyes to a self-conscious straightening of my cards. "Well, where are we going? And, are we almost there?"

Zell looked at his watch. "Let's see. I programmed the coordinates about an hour and a half ago.… Hm." Zell looked up, affixing me with his boyishly serious expression of curiosity. "How long does it take to get to 'Nowhere in Particular' anchored?"

My mouth dropped. "Ancho- Wait. What do you mean 'Nowhere in Particular'? I thought we had a set itinerary."

"Oh sure we do. Get back to Balamb by-"

I giggled and threw my 'flip-flop' at him. "You know what I mean, Zellander Dincht!"

"Hey! No name-calling," he protested, tossing my sandal back. "I don't call you Priscilla!"

"Yes, you do!"

Chucking an ice chip at him, I timed it just right. It scurried down the back of his tank as he leaned forward. He squawked and stood up the same time I did. Darting away from his reaching arms, I squealed and giggled in true 'don't catch me - catch me' fashion, running toward the aft of the yacht to dive overboard.

Zell sounded his ever-familiar maniacal laugh and dove after me. "You better swim, shy girl, or you're gonna get eaten."

And I could hear him pull at the water as hard and fast as I already was. "Nuh-uh!" I took in a deep breath and went under, smiling so wide that I almost couldn't hold the breath I'd just taken. It was a lot of fun to be out here with him, hanging out with no expectations. Well, practically none. I noticed that I seemed to plot how to get in the next touch or kiss, that being more awesome than I could have ever imagined.

Yet it also pushed the 'want' for a different kind of relationship. One that we so carefully worked up to. One that, though a very strong part of me didn't want to admit it, I desperately… craved. An intimacy with a man I didn't know I could love so much.

I stopped diving and turned in the water to find Zell about 10 feet away staring down at something directly below him. I arched an eyebrow and then made my way over, catching his gaze and then his motion down. I looked- and saw a treasure chest! I hadn't ever seen one before. I'd heard rumors - everybody had - but I'd never actually seen one.

Meeting Zell's gaze, I nodded when he pointed up. We surfaced at the same time.

"What do you think?" he asked as he wiped the wet hair from his face. "It'd be pretty awesome to find some treasure on our honeymoon. You know it would."

"It's not too deep for a free-dive?"

"Nah. It's barely thirty feet. The water just makes it look deeper than it is." He grinned and made a motion with his head. "Come on. It'll be fun."

I surrendered to his sense of adventure and nodded, smiling. "Okay."

"Awesome. Let's go."

We breathed deep and dove, urging our descent toward the treasure chest nestled between two sections of coral. It had been there a long time, from the amount of coral and underwater additions that now called it home. I just hoped that Zell and I could get it out. Coral cut really bad.

We made it down to the chest, saw that the lock on it was still intact, and then tried to gauge how securely it had become nestled with the surrounding coral. It actually moved a little when I pulled a somewhat coral-free rock from under it.

Zell sent me a smile and then set to pulling the drawstring from his shorts to wrap it through the handle on the one side of the chest so that we could tug it to the surface. The chest wasn't as heavy as I thought it would be, which probably meant it wouldn't have all that much stuff inside, but it was still exciting to drag an actual treasure chest up from the depths of the ocean.

Okay, so maybe it wasn't the 'depths', but it was still fun.

When we finally got it on deck, after I had tossed a large bath towel down to Zell so he wouldn't cut his hands, we stared down at it for a long time before getting the crowbar and breaking the lock.

"Hm. That's weird. There's only a couple things in here." Zell reached in and pulled them out. "Ooo. Hey. This feels warm. What a trip. Here. Check it out."

He handed me the fist-sized green crystal with the red center as he looked closer at a kind of bracelet. "Wow, Zell. This crystal is really pretty, and you're right. It's warm to the touch." I stroked it softly with my thumbs as I smiled down at it. "I know the perfect place for this. I could have my dad carve a holder and put it on the new table we just picked up. It would look… spectacular… there…."

Zell looked up, noticed what must have been an odd expression on my face, and stood, tossing the bangle/bracelet back into the chest. "What?"

It was the oddest thing. As I stared down at the green crystal, lightly holding it in my palms and stroking its warm and smooth surface, I was struck with the strangest feeling. It was a kind of warmth inside my head… and yet inside my entire body, too. "I… I don't know… It's…" I looked up to meet Zell's curious gaze. "It's warm inside me, too."

"Huh?" Zell took the green crystal. "…the hell?!" he exclaimed as he blinked. "That's freakin' weird." He met my gaze. "Maybe we shouldn't take it home? Maybe we should put it back down there. There's got to be a reason it was down there. You think?"

"I…" I focused again on the crystal. "I don't know.… Somehow… it was kind of nice to have."

Zell lowered his gaze to the crystal while giving an absent nod. "Yeah. I know what you mean. Like… Like a missing part of you or something?"

I nodded and then pointed toward it. "We could… We could just not tell anyone about it, right? Keep it in a little chest in our room? In the bedside table that has the lock on it. Nobody would know, and Garden is the safest place in the world to keep something like this. Maybe I could research it in my free time."

Zell scrubbed at his scalp. "Well… I guess that'd be okay- Oh crap. I forgot." He met my gaze. "We've got to get new additions checked through security. Remember? If we try and take this in to Garden, Seifer's got to approve it. If he doesn't and it's found, it's our ass."

"Oh." I bit my lip as I focused again on the green crystal. "Oh."

Again, Zell scrubbed at his scalp. "Maybe we could drop it off with Prez Laguna? He's got that research station there. It'll be safe there, won't it?"

I smiled and nodded. "Okay."

Zell's boyish expression returned as he offered forward the crystal. "Here ya go."

I accepted it and gave its smooth surface a gentle rub as Zell again retrieved the bracelet from the chest. A glitter of gold in the sun captured my gaze. "That's really pretty."

"Yeah. Sweet, huh? It's got some fancy runes on it, too. I wonder if it's something like one of those stupid Odine bangles."

I stepped closer. "No. This looks a lot more… artistic and genuine. Oh my goodness. Those look really, really old. I bet I could find a book about those online." I smiled wide as I met his gaze. "Come on. Let's go look."

He grinned, fanning my enthusiasm, and then 'shoo'd me downstairs to our satellite uplink and the waiting answers.

The answers weren't so easy to find, which was fine with me because I always loved a challenge. Then to have Zell standing behind my chair at the dining table in the yacht's galley rubbing my shoulders and my neck and occasionally giving my neck a kiss and nuzzle? *happy sigh* It was phenomenal.

"Maybe you should go to that page there?" Zell asked, his arms along the back of my chair as his chin rested on my left shoulder.

"Which? This one?" I prompted, pointing to a link on the lower section of the page.

"Yeah. That guy's got a lot of letters after his name, so he's got to have something good. Maybe he has a study group or something."

"Good idea. Scientists and researchers have those," I admitted as I clicked the link.

Kissing my neck again, Zell's touch sent thoughts scattering the same time it sent my imagination soaring. In fact, I could barely remember where I was as he wrapped his arms around my upper chest and continued with the nuzzling and the kissing we hadn't really allowed ourselves since Winhill… My eyes fluttered closed-

BEEP

I twitched - so did Zell - and looked down at the screen.

"'No Garden personnel allowed'?" Zell asked, incredulous. "You're kidding."

"How odd." I clicked the 'OK' confirmation option on the window and was, surprisingly, taken to an automatic/generic e-mail form. "Well, at least he lets us contact him at all."

"Yeah. No doubt." Zell moved around to crouch beside me, his hands on both the back of the chair and the table, and watched me type in the e-mail. "Don't give him too much information. We just want to tweak his interest. I mean, geez, if he's not going to let us look around his site, why should we give him all that we've got?"

I smiled. "Very good idea." I finished the email and looked over at Zell. "How's that?"

He pointed to the screen. "Take that out."

"Okay." I did as requested and then waited, smiling down at him as I smoothed the hair at his temples and above his ears. "Is that better?" I asked softly.

"Yeah." He reached over and clicked 'send' before standing and drawing me to my feet. Then he guided my hands and arms up around his neck and nestled his around my waist, grinning. "How about we make out a little?" Zell kissed my forehead and then my nose. "You know what they say…" He lightly kissed my lips, and my eyes drifted closed. "Time flies…" and kissed me again, "…when you're having fun…" slow kiss…

BEEP

"…crap." Zell gave me another kiss, too brief for my taste right then, and then gave my arms a stroke to gather my hands in his. "Now I know why they say 'don't start what you can't finish'. It sucks."

I swallowed hard as I nodded, not trusting my voice with any kind of sane answer. I didn't understand how he could stop like that, because I felt as if I'd been yanked back from a crevice by my hair and still dangled over the side.…

Zell released a quick breath. "Come on. Let's see why we get a web-cam insteada e-mail."

He directed a dazed me to sit in the chair and then pulled a second one to position it to my left. Then he gave my thigh a gentle squeeze, sent me a wink, and pressed in the code to receive the web-cam signal. But, to my surprise, Zell only allowed our audio signal to go through. My brain skulked back from the precipice of a moment before and I smiled, giving his arm a nudge as I murmured, "Zell."

"Hey. If he's gonna be a jerk about his site.…"

I softly giggled and wrapped my arms around his. "You're so smart."

"Heh," Zell responded, smirking. When Dr. Zachari Tahlson's web-cam window opened, there was no image. Zell sent me a sidelong expression of 'What'd I tell ya?' To the web-cam he said, "You rang?"

"I would like to set up a meeting," the doctor informed brusquely. "Based on your location, I will meet with you in less than an hour. Remain there."

Then the transmission ended.

"Gee. Nice guy."

I giggled. "He's a scientist, sweetie. Remember?"

"Yeah, well, he coulda sent that via secure e-mail, instead breakin' up our fun."

Cheeks flushed, I lowered my gaze and said, "Yes, that's true, but where were we going to finish our fun? I don't think the floor would be very comfortable. Not with my back problems." Sally? Did you just say that?!

"Oh. Right." Zell looked to the floor of the galley and scrubbed at the back of his neck. "Forgot about that."

My expression softened as I moved my hands to cup his face. "It's okay, sweetie. So did I." Then I kissed his cheek and embraced him, wrapping my arms around his neck as he drew his arms around me. "I forget a lot of things when I'm with you." Maybe I would forget about the whole extreme-modesty thing?

Zell's arms tightened momentarily around me before he urged me back and met my gaze with a boyish smile. "Come on. I'll give you a full-body massage. The Works. We're talking everything. You'll love it."

My eyes widened as he took my hand and led me out of the galley and up the stairs to the deck. "The… The Works?" Rumors had floated around Garden for ages about Zell's ability to work the human body into complete and total relaxation. I, of course, had been blessed with a great many sessions with him, but nothing even close to 'The Works'. "C-Can I handle The Works?"

Zell sent me a mischievous twinkle. "Maybe. I've gotten some great releases off you with the mild stuff, so you'll probably love The Works. But I guess we'll see." Then he wiggled his eyebrows at me.

Which, of course, had me very suspicious as to what exactly 'The Works' entailed. "Zell," I prompted slowly and cautiously, "you're scaring me." I didn't know how much touch from him I could handle without showing a part of me I wanted to deny existed.

Zell laughed and pushed out on deck. "Nah. Don't be scared. It won't be painful or nothing. Wait right here." He deliberately positioned me within the center of the deck and then went to gather a couple of the long side-bench cushions and position them on the flooring near me. Then he reached up a hand and steadied my kneel onto the cushions. "Okay. Lay on your tummy. I'll start easy and let you get used to it first."

My stomach alternated between flips, flops, and twists of 'Do I really want to do this?' while I bit my lip.

Zell chuckled and gave my chin a gentle chuck. "Come on, come on. You'll be okay, Meg. Promise."

I offered a timid smile and then did as directed.

"In fact, I bet you'll be more than okay." He rested a hand on my back, the other adjusting the cushions. "Put your face between the cushions so you can relax. There ya go. Say. You're getting better at the 'relax' part."

Anything said after that fell to the wayside as his hands stroked, caressed, and kneaded my muscles with firmly gentle motions. My mind simply shut down, leaving only the next blissful moment of touch and 'release' as his hands and fingers explored and sought out the next bit of stress, an achy pocket of anxiety, the hiding tightness… and then worked it loose. Tenacious and tender in a way that sent me into a trance-like state of the promised 'complete and total relaxation'.

Then his fingers and hands changed their language against my skin. I moaned without meaning to, but any embarrassment or horror didn't have the strength to lift its head. Not when he… I moaned again when his fingers worked a single section in the small of my back, coaxing out the deeper hiding tightness while, at the same time, feeling as if he caressed my very soul.

Each portion of my skin and body was stroked this way, sending shivers from my hairline to my fingers and toes and making my eyes roll back in my head as my body continued to voice its pleasure in soft moans and groans. I couldn't explain how it made me feel. It just… it just felt. Clear through.

I vaguely felt a soft kiss on my shoulder, the whisper of "I told you you'd like it," running off my mind like water off crystal as his hands continued to work.

Then, too soon, he caressed his hands down my body and drew them away. But only to immediately and gently turn me onto my back with my head in his lap while he began a tender and soft massage of my temples, face, and head. I felt like a well-rolled piece of dough and just as pliable.

"If you feel like going to sleep," Zell said in a low voice, his smile twitching at the corners, "just let yourself go. Okay?"

I couldn't even nod or smile my answer. I could only lie there drifting on a cloud of euphoria and pleasure.…

"… go to sleep, kitten.…"

…and then into the pink and blue mists of sleep.…

***

The release I felt when she went all the way was a kind of rush. I don't know how to explain it, other than it feels as if there's this wave of a heavy duty tingle. I used to get headaches when I'd get releases like that on other people. But it had never been like that with Sally. There was the release and the tingle, of course, but I was just a little tired after it. It took a lot of focus to do the massage bit because you had to pay attention to what muscle groups you were working. That and you had to follow the stress.

Slippery buggers.

But headaches? Nah. Never. Not even once.

I shook my head, chuckling as I continued to stroke her face. She had really soft skin, and I'd always loved touching soft stuff. Don't know why. Didn't care. 'Course, I always looked for any excuse to touch her anywhere. Had since we'd started dating. That was me: Always pushing the limits. She took it like a trooper, only slapping me a couple times when even I knew I'd deserved it.

I chuckled again, adjusting her limp body in my lap. The look on her face when she'd slapped me the first time was still kinda funny. She'd looked as if she'd killed someone. Musta gone yellow for, like, at least a minute. Of course I'd felt like a complete jerk-off at the time, falling over myself to apologize. Can't remember now what I'd done to get the wallop, but I guess it doesn't matter. We laugh about it now.

"We laugh about a lot of things, don't we, Meg?"

She let out a soft coo of a sigh - I loved those - which made me snigger. But then, I don't know why, I remembered that I was married to her now. That made the smile slowly vanish. It was just her and me. No backing off. No stepping out. It was her and me. Period. That was kind of a weird thing to me still. I mean, I'd not really ever had anything, like what Sally and I had. That still had a way of kinda creeping me out.

A lot of pressure, I guess.

After all, I didn't know what to expect. I was doing the best I could to take things as it went, always seemed to be the best policy, but I guess I'd come to think that 'marriage' was supposed to change stuff. Don't ask me what. It just always did, and I didn't want it to. I wanted to keep 'hanging out' with her, doing 'friendship' stuff like playing cards, or watching the game, or laughing over things.

I rested my chin in my hand and my elbow on my leg as I stared down at her, my other hand interlacing my fingers with hers. Yeah, I knew we were only a day into it, barely, but… well… What we had was boooya!-awesome, and I didn't want anything to change it. But I didn't know how to make it stay that way. Didn't have any idea. Thought that, maybe if I tried, it would make it all screw up.

But.…

I let out a deep breath, muttering, "Dincht, just chill," and then lifted her hand to give it a kiss, my gaze drifting to the open door that led below-deck.

It was cool that we'd found the treasure chest, Sally always loved mysteries and puzzles and stuff, but the crystal-thing gave me an itch. Well, not a real itch, but something that kinda nagged at me. Like what I'd said when we found it. It had been a real trip to hold. Warm and smooth, yeah, but more than that. And that was the itch. I couldn't really grab the words to say what I meant. Didn't even know what I meant.

I just kept thinking back to when I'd held it for longer than that initial second or whatever. Sally had said it best. 'It's warm inside me, too.' But even that hadn't gone to what it had been like. It was like… It was like I could still feel it there. Just kinda… lingering. Right there. Right where I couldn't really feel or hear it, if that makes any sense. It was as if I needed to hold it again to make it go away, or to even make it make sense.

That kinda freaked me out a little.

Again, Sally said it. 'It was kind of nice to have.'

I'd only ever started feeling that about her - don't give me that, guys. Geez. It rocks to hold a hottie like Sally! - but when I'd held that crystal.… I shook my head, letting out another breath as I once more focused on her peaceful expression.

I smiled and gave her fingers a squeeze, trying to ignore the pull that came from below-deck as I remembered the planned 'strip-tease'. But a week? Man. It had been bad enough to watch her these past hours in just her swimsuit, not even thinking about giving her The Works through it when she would shiver like that at the release. And when she stood up to get anything? Geez, that was the worst! I mean, that birthmark on her back thigh was awesome. She had a nice butt, too!

And I was supposed to wait a week?!

I knew I couldn't push any boundaries this time. Well. Maybe a couple, if I watched it. I knew that if I didn't watch it, I'd do something like I had down in the galley. If the beep hadn't come when it had, I'd have found the fastest way out of a one-piece.

Rubbing hard at my scalp, I mumbled "So you'll take a few more cold showers each day. Big, friggin' deal." Sure. If I had sense enough to bolt to the shower.

Letting out yet another quick breath, I again rested my chin in my hand as I stared down at Sally. Like usual, I eventually smiled. Then I placed her hand carefully on her tummy and softly stroked the skin of her jaw. Yeah. She had really soft skin. Of course, she was soft, and not just that way. She was a real sweetheart. Hadn't ever really seen her lose her temper, either. That made me kind of curious if she just kept it inside, which I knew wasn't the best thing to do, but then I shrugged it off and just kept staring down at her.

Still smiling, of course, and still wondering how I was going to last a week when the Mega-Phoenix was lying in my lap with that kind of smile on her face. How did any guy keep from jumping a girl who looked like Sally? Especially when she would look like that at me. I guess it came down to the whole 'respect' thing. I don't think I respected anyone more than I respected Sally. Except for Squall, but that was different. He was my bud. He'd given me chances that no one else ever had.

No one but Sally.

"Yeah. You rock on so many different levels," I whispered. I just wish I could have told her how much. But I'd never been good at crap like that. It sucked, but oh well. She seemed to know it all already. I just had to say what I could. She was always fine with that, giving me those awesome 'Oh Zell' sighs that made me see gold for weeks.

How a girl does that I have no idea. I don't think I'll ever figure it out, either. Actually, I don't think I would ever try. Screw the 'why'. I was a Phoenix Junkie, whole hog, and I was fine with that. In fact, it was an awesome place to be. I couldn't even imagine how awesome the next step was going to be. Well, I could try, but I kinda didn't want to. I mean… I kinda wanted to be shocked off my ass. It was always more fun that way.

I smirked, my mind doing a little bit of imagining just the same as I stroked Sally's jaw and tried not to admit that, performance freak or not, I'm sure it would be a helluva rush. She had been since day one, so why would our honeymoon be any different?

"Heh. Knowing you," I said under my breath as I heard an approaching motor, "it won't. It'll be better." Sally had always been a collection of 'betters'. Giving a small shake of my head, I softly said, "Hey, kitten, you've got to wake up now," even though I hated to do it. Her in my lap always felt Booya!-awesome.

She mumbled something, who knew what, and took in and released a very deep breath. But she was still limp, so I figured she was probably still floating off in 'lala' land. "Heh. I wish I could come, girl, but you've got to come back." I stroked her jaw with a slightly firmer touch. "Come on. Come on back."

She groaned sleepily, sighing deep again, but this time she felt a little less limp.

"I know, it's cool out there, but… Come on, girl," I whispered. "Come on back. We've got company…"

***

…I woke to the caress of Zell's fingers along my jaw.

"We've got company, kitten," he prompted softly. "Wake up."

I smiled and gave a happy sigh as I stretched, reaching my hands behind him to scratch his back. I opened my eyes and met his blue ones. "Hey, handsome." My smile grew more silly. "Can you do that again?"

Chuckling, his eyes twinkled with mischief. "Sure, but not right now. I don't think the doc would appreciate it, and he's coming alongside." Zell heaved my shoulders up and out of his lap and then stood to draw me to my feet, steadying me when my knees nearly gave way. "Sorry, kitten. I'd let you sleep longer, but.…"

The silly smile remained as I glowed over at him. "Oh that's okay. I like it here." Lingering on a cloud of pleasure like this? Uh. Yeah. Duh.

Zell's lips twitched. "I'll be sure to remember that." He stepped close as the sound of an approaching motor grew louder, cupping my face in his hands and stroking my cheeks. "Come on, girl. Wake up. You need all your brain with this guy," he said absently.

I softly giggled, hands lifting to hold his wrists as his fingers continued to tingle my brain awake. It was a real 'trip', as Zell would say. "You're cute," I mumbled in a silly tone. "Let's make out."

Zell chuckled, giving a shake of his head while saying "Oh boy," in a low voice. "Note to self: Self, don't push so many buttons all at once."

Giggling again, I wrinkled my nose at him as the pink and blue began to slowly fade. "Awwww."

He kissed my nose. "You'll thank me later." He presented a tank top, then wrapped a flowery wrap-around skirt about me as I dazedly slipped into the shirt, occasionally giggling at how cute the entire episode looked to me.

"There ya go," he finally said, giving my waist a squeeze. "All wrapped up."

"Thank you," I said softly, and I think I actually fluttered my eyelashes at him.

He sent me his usual charming, boyish smile before turning me around and taking my hand in his. "Show time."

Dr. Zachari Tahlson boarded dressed in corduroy slacks, rumpled sweater-vest, and wrinkled dress-shirt. To me he didn't look like much more than a geeky professor. He had to be only as old as Zell, if that, and had a shock of red hair that stuck out a bit all around his head. It wasn't too bad, due to the fact it was short, but I wondered if the spikes were intentional or because he'd forgotten to comb it. He had wire-rimmed glasses - it seemed to be a prerequisite for being a scientist - and, to my surprise, what looked like a hearing-aide. Although there looked to be something different about them. Maybe they're microphone devices to a third party?

Once he'd come to stand across from us, I noticed he carried a leather portfolio in one hand and a slim computer in the other.

Zell extended a hand. "Zell. This is my wife: Sally."

Wife… I would have collapsed into a fit of happy giggles if it wasn't for the fact that Zell gave my hand a tight squeeze.

Dr. Tahlson nodded, shifting his computer into his other arm before accepting Zell's hand to give a single shake. Then he shifted the computer back. "Is this location secure?"

"Sure. Give me a sec." He looked over at me. "Can you check?"

"Oh. Of course." I looked around for the internet phone, found it beside the cushions on the deck, and retrieved it to check the security of the surrounding area. "Nothing. Satellite isn't due to pass until 1600 hours. That gives us… 75 minutes."

Dr. Tahlson lifted an eyebrow. "Security?"

I stood and moved to stand beside Zell, gathering up his hand again.

Zell smirked and said, "Sorry, doc. Gonna have to pass on that one. Let's just keep it to our little e-mail."

Dr. Tahlson brusquely nodded. "May I see the artifact?"

"Sure. This way." We led him down into the galley where the bangle still rested beside the crystal on the dining table. Zell stealthily gathered up the crystal, hiding it behind his back before the doctor had completely entered the room. I sent him a sidelong glance, but he only winked and continued to smile that easy smile. "Right there."

Nodding again, Dr. Tahlson sat himself in the chair directly across from the bangle and positioned his computer beside it. The computer was then opened and switched on, a slate of sorts brought out and installed into a port on the right. My eyes widened. A high-tech scanner pad! It would be able to tell him exactly what metal elements the bangle had been created with. It could also imprint the rune images into his computer so that it could run them through the linguistics program he likely had installed. Very nice. I wanted one, and I made a note to myself to make a request to Seifer when I got back.

Dr. Tahlson placed the bangle onto the pad, typed in the appropriate commands, and then silently waited while the computer ran the appropriate elemental and forensic checks. Then he set it to processing that information while a sub-program scanned the runes into his computer for a secondary search of his current database. When I felt a slight squeeze, I sent Zell a quizzical glance and found him smirking at me. I flushed and looked down, smiling and shivering when he gave my hand a kiss.

A sudden soft sound from the doctor drew Zell and my gazes. He had leaned close to the screen while murmuring a collection of phrases I couldn't make out. Then he scratched at his head and furiously typed on the keypad of his computer, likely sending it on a collection of sub-searches that would narrow fields and mark out any possibility of error. It's what I would have done if I didn't believe what the computer first found. Finally, he released a deep breath and leaned back heavily in the chair, scrubbing at his scalp for a long time before lowering his arm to his side and then looking over at us with a grin that reminded me a lot of Marshal.

"Have a seat," the doctor offered.

An eyebrow twitched on Zell's face as he pulled a chair out for me at the head of the small table and then continued to stand behind me, his hands on my shoulders while his thumbs lightly stroked my neck. Somewhere vaguely in my pleasure-soaked brain I wondered what he'd done with the green crystal.

Dr. Tahlson turned long enough toward his computer to retrieve the bangle. He offered it toward me, still smiling. "Go ahead. Put it on."

I looked to the bangle and then the doctor's very happy face before feeling Zell's assuring rub on my neck and then accepting the offered piece of jewelry. I slipped the golden bangle onto my left wrist and smiled down at it. "It's so pretty."

"A powerful piece of protection from magic attacks as well."

"Wha-? Magic? Really?" Zell pressed, his hands momentarily tightening on my shoulders.

"Those runes there halve the amount of damage taken from both physical and magical attacks, forming a barrier around the person until the bangle is removed."

My eyes widened as I focused on the doctor. "But… But how?"

"Our world has an innate magical aura; many people theorize it's due in part to the Guardian Forces that have dedicated themselves to protecting this planet. Those runes tap into that magical aura and utilize it to offer protection in a limited area. In this case, on whomever wears that bangle."

Zell looked down at the bangle the same time I did. "Sweet!"

"How old is it?" I asked softly, absently twisting it back and forth on my wrist.

"Very old. The computer places it at 3 millennia."

"Wha-? You're kidding!"

Dr. Tahlson shook his head. "You've made the archaeological discovery of the age." He motioned briefly to us. "Name your price and the Foundation will transfer that into your account." His smile widened as he focused on me. "You won't even need to give up the bangle. I've received all the information I can from it. If you promise to let me have another look, should equipment be upgraded, we'll give you a bonus at that time."

My mouth dropped open- I looked over my shoulder at Zell, but he was already pulling the green crystal out of his back pocket. "What do you make of this then, doc? We found it with the bangle."

Dr. Tahlson's face went white, and the hands that reached out for it trembled. "My god. You… You found one…"

"Found one?" Zell and I asked together. "Found one what?"

Dr. Tahlson's gaze lifted from his stroke of the green and red crystal. "A magicite shard. The life force of… an Esper."