Things inevitably changed with the passage of time. Whether it was minutes, days, weeks, or years, whatever it was a person left behind rarely stayed exactly the same. Their closest friend changed their haircut, or their favorite cafe may have garnered a new layer of vines, creeping farther up its brick walls. The unexpected change makes the person feel unsettled, or discontent. After all, if something that had seemed so unerringly concrete before had transformed into something else entirely, it was now possible that more had changed in the time they'd been away.

That was exactly what Seifer was experiencing right at this very moment. At first glance, he could've sworn that Rinoa hadn't aged a day, that she hadn't changed anything about her appearance over the course of a decade. She greeted them with that same warm, gentle smile that he'd been so fond of all those years ago. A smile that had, no matter how shitty of a day he'd been having, lifted his spirits and made him feel like he could take on the world. A smile that had driven him to throw protocol out the window and chase after her, consequences be damned. Now . . . Now it only filled him with a deep sense of sadness and regret.

It wasn't so much that he wished he could travel back in time and do things differently, do things in a way that would guarantee they'd stay together until the end of their days. It was more so that, by his own hand and his own actions, he'd inadvertently pushed her into the arms of another man while simultaneously shoving what little good had been in his life down the garbage disposal.

Seemed like he was exceptionally good at doing that.

While Seifer was lost in the past, Selphie jumped forward and into Rinoa's waiting arms with an exuberant squeal, yanking him out of his depressing reverie. As the two women grinned at each other and exclaimed how much time had gone by—as it inevitably does—he took the opportunity to inspect Rinoa a little closer.

He was surprised to find that his initial impression of her had actually been very, very wrong. She had changed. The changes were just a little deeper than the surface. Around her soft brown eyes, there were newfound laugh lines that hadn't been there before. They were far too young still to call them wrinkles, but he could tell that, after another ten years flew past, they would definitely be there. It was fitting. He couldn't imagine Rinoa not smiling or laughing at something.

Before he was even remotely ready, Rinoa pulled her gaze away from Selphie and then her eyes were trained on him. Seifer resisted the urge to look away, settling for shifting in place instead. He wasn't afraid to lock eyes with her, no, but there was so much history between them now. What did he even say? How did she even feel about him being here?

The second her lips curved upwards in a hesitant smile, the tension seeped out of him. Funny how, despite how much time had passed, her smile could still do that. He felt like an idiot for practically leering at her, so he just nodded instead. Her expression fell into a frown, and she placed her hands on her hips with slightly narrowed eyes.

Oh no. Here it comes.

"Seriously, Seifer? It's been ten years since we've last seen each other, and all you do is nod at me?" Rinoa reprimanded him.

Seifer shrugged, trying to play his uncertainty off as nonchalance. "What did you want me to do, run over and jump into your arms like Selphie? Pretty sure I'd crush you."

Selphie hid a laugh behind her hand. As Rinoa threw a mock glare her friend's way, she said, "Don't encourage him, Selph." It was obvious she wasn't actually angry, considering the way she was trying to suppress a smile.

Selphie waved her hand in the air. "He'd totally crush you, Rin. Look at him, he's a giant walking muscle. Gotta weigh a ton."

Seifer crossed his arms as he shook his head at Selphie. 'Giant walking muscle'? The hell is that supposed to mean? Is that supposed to be a compliment?

Before any of them could say anything else, a panicked shout came from down the hall, followed by a herd of furry creatures stampeding into the room. Seifer threw his arms up in an attempt to maintain his balance as he was swarmed by a variety of different dogs, all jumping up at him and barking nonstop.

"What the hell?" he shouted, trying to push an exceptionally ardent dog's snout out of his crotch.

Selphie, of course, did the exact opposite. She crouched down and wrapped her arms around a large, fluffy white dog with a wide grin on her face. "Oooh, aren't you just the cutest?!"

Another nose poked him in the ass, and he whirled around to push that dog away, too. It never ended. Where one moved aside, another filled its place. After a few unsuccessful attempts at crowd control, Seifer spun back around to demand that Rinoa contain her little army, except she was no longer standing in front of him.

He scanned the room and discovered that she was now over by the hallway, indeed trying to herd the dogs back in the direction they'd come from. When the majority of the critters were gone, Rinoa whistled for the white dog that was still by Selphie's side. It looked over at Rinoa, and then back up at Selphie, all without budging an inch. Selphie reached down and scratched behind one of its ears, and it opened its mouth, tongue lolling out the side.

Rinoa patted her thigh and called out, "Boko, come on! Back to the yard!"

The dog—Boko, apparently—lowered its head and let out a pitiful whine, before looking back up at Selphie again. Selphie laughed and rubbed the top of its head. "It's okay, Rin. Boko can stay. I kinda like him."

"Kinda?" Seifer quipped, raising his eyebrow at her.

"Yeah, go on and tease, you big softie. I bet you'd melt if a puppy crawled into your lap," Selphie retorted, sticking her tongue out at him for a fraction of a second.

"First of all, I don't have time for a puppy, and you sure as shit don't either. Second of all, I wouldn't melt."

"Sure you wouldn't."

"I wouldn't."

"Uh huh," she said, without looking at him. After crouching down to eye level with Boko, she cooed, "I bet he'd just want to cuddle you, and love you, and just give you all the big hugs, wouldn't he?"

"I—" Seifer started to say, inching towards Selphie, when he was interrupted by a boisterous voice that came from behind Rinoa.

"Sorry about that, Rin! I opened the gate to the enclosure because I was gonna come inside and join you guys, and before I could shut it, the dogs just barrelled past me!"

Rinoa laughed as Seifer turned back around. "It's okay, Zell. We managed! Except for Boko, who seems to have taken a liking to Selphie."

"Aw, Boko's such a sweet—Holy Hyne! What the hell is he doin' here?" Zell exclaimed, pointing at Seifer.

Seifer paused in mid-step before shifting his weight so that he could plant his feet in place. "Hey, Chicken-wuss."

"Come on, man!" Zell threw his arm out to the side as his face contorted in annoyance.

Under his breath, Seifer chuckled. "Calm down, I wasn't bein' serious. Consider it payback."

"For what?" Zell exclaimed. "Even way back in the day, I'd never actually done anything to you!"

"That's what made it so funny," Seifer said with a shrug, unapologetic. "But I was actually talking about earlier today, when you tried to throw the term back on me during your little video chat with Selphie?"

"Ah, hell, you heard that, huh?"

"I was standing right behind her. Were you really expectin' me not to?"

Zell rubbed the back of his neck as his gaze dropped. "I was kinda bankin' on you not listening . . ."

"Guess I'm more observant than people give me credit for," Seifer muttered. Judging by the wry smile on Rinoa's face, she must've overheard him.

Another bark rang out, but this one was solitary rather than a cacophony of yelps. A moment later, a black, copper, and white dog bounded around the corner, coming to a stop right at Rinoa's feet. When it saw Seifer, it tilted its head to the side, seemingly curious.

Seifer chuckled. It seemed like Angelo hadn't changed much either. He patted his thigh, and Angelo let out a cheerful yip before racing to his side. Once she'd sat down at his feet, he bent down and scratched under her chin with a genuine smile.

"Hey girl. Been awhile, huh?" he murmured to her, and Angelo responded by closing her eyes and stretching her chin up so he'd have more access.

"Whaaaat?" Selphie sidled up to him and leaned around his arm. "Who knew you'd be good with dogs?"

He shrugged. "I'm not, really. But for whatever reason, Angelo's always liked me."

From across the room, Rinoa let out a laugh. "That's an understatement! Sometimes I swear she liked you more than she liked me."

Beside Rinoa, Zell crossed his arms. "This is weird."

Seifer straightened, looking at Zell with a stern expression. "Only because you're makin' it weird, Chicken-wuss." Zell opened his mouth to retort, but before he could say anything, Seifer looked over at Rinoa and said, "I wanted to ask you a question."

Rinoa nodded and gestured to the couches over on the other side of the room. "I kind of figured as much, judging by our conversation earlier. Let's sit first?"

Once they were all seated—Rinoa and Zell on one couch, Selphie and Seifer on the other—Seifer didn't waste any time. "You said you saw Fujin and Raijin the other day?"

Again, Rinoa nodded. She clasped her hands around her knee, lifting her leg slightly off of the floor. "Mmhm. Like I said earlier, it was kind of unexpected because it's been years since I last spotted them in town. I haven't seen them again since, though."

Selphie and Seifer shared a loaded glance, and when Selphie scooted forward on the couch, the side of her leg brushed against his. "Rin, can you think back and remember if you saw them, say, a little under a week ago?"

Rinoa's brows cinched together and she looked up at the ceiling, deep in thought. "Um . . . maybe? If I did, it definitely wasn't a concrete like, 'Look, there they are!' but it's possible?"

Beside her, Zell sat up quickly and pointed over at her. "No, Rin, you did! I remember! We went in to town to get some dog food from the general store, and when we stopped by Ma's house, you said you thought you saw someone you knew!"

"Did I?" she asked absentmindedly, her gaze shifting to the side as she ran her fingers through Angelo's long hair. A beat passed before her eyes lit up in recognition. "Oh! You're right! When we were standing outside Ma's house, I glanced over at the train station and thought I saw someone who looked like Fujin. The woman's hair was a lot longer than I remember Fujin's being, so I think that's why I wasn't sure if it was her, but not a lot of people have silver hair."

"Yeah, you asked me if that was Fujin, and I said I had no clue," Zell added. "It's not like I talked to her much, before or after the war."

"Damn," Seifer mumbled, falling back against the couch cushion.

There was a part of him—a large part—that wanted to believe that Fujin and Raijin were absolutely not involved, that this was just a huge coincidence. That was why he'd wanted to come and see Rinoa so badly, so she'd prove him right and clear their names. Fujin and Raijin were . . . they were his family, the only ones to help him in his darkest hours, to stay by his side no matter the consequences—except for that one time, which there was no way he could blame them for that.

If they were Sanctus, if they'd done this to Garden, to all those kids . . . how could he forgive them?

Immediately after the thought crossed his mind, he knew it was hypocritical to wonder that. After all, even after he'd tried to destroy the world, they'd taken him in like nothing had happened, helped him heal, helped him transition back into the world. He knew he owed it to them to at least ask what they'd been thinking, why they'd believed this was an acceptable course of action. But . . . right now, in this very moment, he was struggling to find it in him to forgive and accept.

Is this how they'd felt in Lunatic Pandora? Had they looked at him and wondered the exact same thing he was wondering now? How had he willingly fired missiles at kids? Thrown all of the people he'd grown up with to the wolves and not glance back even once?

An immense amount of self-hatred coursed through him and he clenched his fists, barely even registering the pain emanating from his broken thumb. Who was he to judge them and bring them in to answer for what they'd done, when he'd been no different during the war?

Feeling like he was suddenly trapped in a box, he leapt up from the couch and stalked over to the other side of the room, face contorted in anger. Behind him, he could hear Zell, Rinoa, and Selphie speaking in low tones, but he was too preoccupied with his own thoughts to pick out what they were saying. It was likely about him, the three of them drawing metaphorical straws to see which one of them got to be the poor sap who came and comforted him.

He stared out the glass sliding door that he'd walked up to without really seeing, eyes watching the dogs as they ran around in their enclosure outside. Talking to Rinoa had instilled a sense of urgency in him. Earlier, he'd suspected, but not really believed, that perhaps Fujin and Raijin had been involved. Now, he needed to talk to them, pick their brains apart, understand.

Without a word, he unlocked the sliding glass door and stepped outside, shutting it behind him. The murmur of conversation that had been in the background before gave way to innocent, lighthearted barking, the sound of pure happiness in its untainted form. Slowly, he made his way over to the enclosure and leaned against the wooden railing, watching the dogs bound around with glee. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, centering himself in the here and now, a technique that he had learned from Fujin in the immediate weeks after the war.

When he opened them again, Rinoa was standing beside him. He reeled back from the railing, almost losing his balance. "Fuckin' Hyne, Rinoa," he gasped. "Don't just sneak up on people!"

She laughed and leaned against the railing he'd just vacated, propping her chin up on the heel of her palm. "You used to be more observant than that."

Pullin' that card, huh? Seifer thought, before shrugging in response. "Been a long time."

"Yeah," she murmured as she straightened. After wrapping her fingers around the railing and leaning back, she added, "Yeah, it has."

A few seconds passed and she still didn't say anything else, so Seifer hesitantly leaned on the railing again. He looked over at her and studied her profile as she watched the dogs at play. Despite the slight hint of tension he'd noticed before, she still managed to look at peace, calm. It reflected the way she often made people around her feel, and it was the way he remembered her—at least, before the war, during their one shared, laughter-filled summer.

As the minutes ticked by and she still didn't speak, he found that his previously burning anger had simmered; the Rinoa Effect had worked on him. He let out a heavy sigh and faced forward again, and it was then that Rinoa finally spoke.

"It's Fujin and Raijin, isn't it?"

Seifer clenched his jaw. "Are you asking whether they're involved, or whether that's why I'm pissed?"

"Both," she replied, facing him head-on.

He shook his head vigorously, shoving his hands through his hair as he let out another sigh—this one was laced with frustration. "I don't fuckin' know. There's so much evidence that says they are involved—too much evidence. I don't know what the hell to think."

She didn't say anything in response, but he could feel her eyes on him. Her touch on his forearm surprised him, and he jolted, his head snapping around to stare at her. A sympathetic look was on her face, and now that she had his attention, she let her hand fall to her side once more.

"Maybe you just shouldn't—think about it, I mean."

"How can I not?"

Rinoa shrugged, a rather uncharacteristic gesture on her part. "Sitting here and picking every little thing apart is only going to drive you crazy. You might as well shelf it, focus on what details you know for sure that'll help you find them so you can ask them yourself."

"Yeah," he scoffed. "And what the hell am I supposed to say? 'Hey, why'd you betray me? Garden?' or 'Hey, why'd you kill all those kids?' Wouldn't that be a little hypocritical?"

She suppressed a smile, dropping her gaze briefly before looking at him again. "Maybe, but that's not what matters."

"What?"

She moved away from the fence, waving her hand in the air dismissively. "Never mind. Hey, why don't we—" She cut herself off and looked over at the enclosure. "Come on."

Seifer watched Rinoa as she walked over to the gate and unlatched it, jerking her head for him to follow. He did, albeit reluctantly, and she closed the gate behind him once they were both standing inside the wooden fence. With a single whistle from her, all of the dogs started bounding in their direction, barking in excitement.

"Oh hell no, Rinoa," Seifer said, moving back towards the gate.

"Uh uh uh," she admonished, wiggling her finger at him. "Don't you dare. Puppies make everything better, and even though this situation may actually be kind of crappy, at least right here, right now, you can forget."

"I don't want to be—" He started to say, but it was too late. All of the dogs surrounded them again, just like earlier. This time, though, they were in the dogs' territory, and it seemed to make them braver, more aggressive with their affections. Knowing Rinoa and the way she likely trained them, they weren't really aggressive, but they were more than generous with their kisses.

He tried to pet a couple of them, but it seemed like a large majority of them were prone to jealousy. Whenever he'd touch one, it was shoved aside shortly after by another, and he was starting to lose count. One of them plowed right into the back of his knee and he buckled, catching himself by planting his hand on top of one exceptionally fluffy mutt. It barked, and before could regain his balance, another one bumped into him on the other side, knocking him over.

"Fuck!" he shouted as he went down. The second he hit the ground, the dogs clambered all over him and bombarded him with wet kisses to the face. "Rinoa! Get 'em off!"

Off in the distance, he heard her giggling, but she didn't seem to be moving any closer to him. He went to call out to her again, but a dog beat him to it and stuck its tongue in his mouth. Disgusted, he sputtered and rolled over, trying to block his face from their relentless affection. Still, Rinoa didn't come to his rescue.

What felt like eons later, he heard Selphie call out to him from across the enclosure.

"Looks like you've got yourself a large, furry problem! Lots of 'em!" she cackled.

With significant difficulty, he sat up, shoving a miniscule, short-haired mutt off his chest. "Damn it, Tilmitt! Get over here and help me!"

Instead of acquiescing to his request, she leaned against the railing, arms casually draped over, and watched him suffer with a wide grin. A dog the size of Angelo popped up out of nowhere and planted its paws on his chest, and down he went again. When he was trying to push it off of him, he realized it was the white dog that had taken a liking to Selphie earlier: Boko.

"Ah hell, instead of helping, she throws one more into the mix. Some 'friend'," he mumbled.

Resigned to his fate, he dropped his head onto the ground with a sigh. Of course, the second he did so, all of the dogs dispersed. Selphie's head popped into view over him, grin still on her face. Without a word, she held out her hand to him. Doubtful that she could lift him—after all, he was 'one big walking muscle' and she was half his size—he grabbed it, but pushed most of his weight up with his legs. Apparently, she'd been expecting to exert the maximum level of her strength, and due to their combined efforts, he went flying towards her.

Selphie let out an "eep!" and he threw out his arms to try and stop himself from crushing her beneath him. While his efforts stopped his momentum, it did mean that he'd grabbed onto her tiny shoulders instead. They stood there for a moment, inches apart and frozen in surprise, until he dropped his hands and quickly took a step back.

"I—You're so fuckin' small that I thought—Shit. Are you okay?" he fumbled, shoving his hands into his pant pockets.

She let out a nervous laugh and tugged on a strand of her hair. "Yeah, I'm fine. Perfectly fine. Just wanted to, you know, help and all."

"I got that." They fell into an awkward silence, filled to the brim with tension. Seifer opened his mouth to stammer out another half-apology, when Selphie's ringing phone cut him off.

She jumped slightly before patting down her pockets, finally pulling her phone out of the back left one. It slipped from her hand and they both lunged for it, almost knocking heads. He pulled back when she caught it with her opposite hand, and then brought it to her ear. "N-Nidaaaaaa. What's up?"

Taking the opportunity to get a hold of himself, he turned away from Selphie while she talked on the phone. As he took a deep breath, he ran his fingers through his hair and stared back at Rinoa's house, shaking his head at himself. What am I, fifteen again? Why the hell am I so nervous? I'm acting like a fuckin' idiot. It's Selphie. We've got other shit to worry about!

When he was on his third deep breath, she stepped up beside him, attention still focused on her phone. "That was Nida. He says the Ragnarok is ready."

"Who?" he mumbled absentmindedly, not really expecting an answer. Selphie opened her mouth to answer, but he moved away from her, heading back towards the house. "Let's go, then."

With a quick farewell to Zell and Rinoa, along with a promise that they'd return soon, they made their way out of town to join Nida. When they approached the temporary security checkpoint, they saw him standing under one of the tents with his hands clasped in front of him, patiently waiting for them as always. When he spotted them, he waved, and Selphie returned the gesture.

"That was fast," he noted, once they'd arrived.

"We left as soon as we got your call," Selphie explained. "We're clear to return to Garden, right?"

Nida nodded, leading the way towards Ragnarok. "Since we were on the pre-clearance list, once we land on the pad, we can just enter Garden like we normally do. According to a friend, security has been amped up on-site, too."

Once they reached the cockpit, Nida slipped into the pilot's seat and flipped the engines on. Surprisingly, Selphie didn't protest, just stood beside Seifer where he stared out the window at Garden up ahead. They lifted off a few minutes later and Nida expertly maneuvered the ship over to the landing pad on the other side of the island. After circling around once, he set down gently and powered down the engines. With a flourish, he spun the chair around and announced, "That's that! Let's head down."

Seifer rolled his eyes at Nida's perpetual cheerfulness—he and Selphie made quite the pair. Despite the odds being against them, what with two out of three Gardens already falling prey to Sanctus' plans, neither one of them seemed to have trouble with remaining optimistic. Seemed like he was the only one who kept thinking of the worst, going over every possible scenario that ended in flames and more unnecessary death. He knew it was torture, masochistic even, to keep picturing Fujin and Raijin at the helm of every one of those bad scenarios: Fujin and Raijin standing behind Quistis, tears in the former instructor's bright blue eyes, a knife at her throat; Fujin and Raijin flipping the switch on a bomb large enough to level Balamb, spewing false words that would be the last he'd ever hear them speak; Hyperion impaling the both of them in the name of justice.

He cringed at that last visual and Selphie looked over at him, her brows drawn tight with concern. It was dark in the tunnel, and he was surprised that she could even see him well enough to know he'd visibly reacted to his own morbid thoughts. She must have been standing close enough to him to feel him curl inward. They walked in silence, their steps echoing back to them. None of them seemed willing to say anything; all of their thoughts were likely on the impending events.

When the tunnel began to slope upwards, Seifer's steps slowed. He knew that time was of the essence, but there was this tight, undulating ball of dread in the pit of his stomach. Since they'd left Rinoa's, his worst fears and thoughts had spiraled, and he was now expecting the worst. It was no longer that he suspected Fujin and Raijin were involved, he simply knew. He knew it as well as he knew them—had known them. Because of that knowledge, even though he knew they needed to be confronted, stopped, he was . . . afraid of being the one to do it.

Could he? Could he bring them down, save people by killing those he loved the most?

A ghost of a touch brushed against his pinky and he started, pulling his hand away. When he looked over at Selphie, she had an uncertain, almost embarrassed look on her face. It was then that he realized she'd reached out to him, tried to comfort him by holding his hand. Even when he didn't know what he wanted or what would make him feel better, she seemed to have this uncanny ability to sense that. And he'd pulled away like an asshole.

"Sorry," Seifer mumbled, quietly enough so that Nida wouldn't hear. "I didn't mean to—My mind is all over the place right now."

"I know. That's why I did it. I can practically see you thinking," she whispered back.

Her method had worked; his mind was no longer on how this night would likely end. The corner of his mouth quirked upwards. "Thanks."

"Sure. You owe me now," she quipped, mirroring his expression.

Seifer scoffed at Selphie's response as they approached the door to the parking garage, now guarded by a uniformed SeeD. He held out his hand to stop them, and Nida stepped forward.

"SeeDs Nida and Tilmitt, and Seifer Almasy. We've been pre-approved by Headmistress Trepe for entrance."

"I.D., please," the other SeeD demanded.

Selphie and Nida flashed their I.D. cards, and when the other SeeD looked at Seifer, he simply pointed to the scar running diagonally across his face. "This I.D. enough for you?"

The SeeD visibly paled. Quickly, he turned around and swiped his own I.D. card before holding the door open for them. "Go on through. You'll have to pass the second checkpoint at the end of the hall before you can officially enter Garden."

"Got it," Nida said, and once they'd crossed the threshold, the door shut behind them with a final click.

True to the SeeD's word, at the end of the hall, two metal detectors had been set up with accompanying tables beside them. There were two other SeeDs stationed at the checkpoint, and when they saw them approaching, they faced them with a sharp salute.

"Please halt," the brunette instructed. "Any and all weapons must be placed on the table for inspection, and then please pass through the detector."

Selphie scrunched up her face. "You really don't recognize us? Quistis should've approved us for pre-clearance."

This time, it was the blond on the opposite side that spoke. "We're sorry for any inconvenience, SeeD Tilmitt. While the Headmistress has indeed cleared you, you still have to go through the inspection."

Selphie let out a drained, discouraged sigh, before stomping through the detector. Her "test" went off without a hitch, and she spun around, waiting for Seifer and Nida with her arms crossed. Nida looked over at Seifer, and he supposed it was his turn now.

He'd been an idiot and had left Hyperion behind with their things in Trabia. No weapon made for a rather fast inspection, and he waltzed through the detector. He could understand why Selphie was so miffed; sure, these SeeDs should've let them pass on recognition alone, but if Quistis had said everyone was subject to the inspection, then everyone was subject. That's just how it was.

Once all three of them were through, the blond stepped forward and said, "We'll have to pat all three of you down as well. Even though the detector didn't go off, we've been instructed to subject everyone to a thorough search."

"That won't be necessary," a woman's voice called out to them from across the lobby. It was followed by the sharp clicking of heels against the marble floor, and the trio faced the newcomer.

All four SeeDs immediately snapped to attention, saluting Quistis as she approached. Almost nonchalantly, she waved them off and came to a stop in front of them. "SeeD Barrett, SeeD Wilson, you've done a fine job. I'll take SeeDs Tilmitt and Nida from here."

"What about Seifer Almasy, ma'am?" the blonde asked, his tone sharp. It was obvious what he thought about Seifer being present in Garden, probably because of the particular situation. Seifer was a little miffed about being referred to when he was standing right beside the guy; he was sick of people talking about him like he wasn't even there.

"He's been authorized," Quistis said, equally as brusque. Her tone did the trick; the blond offered another crisp salute as his only response.

With a wave of her hand, Quistis led the gang away from the checkpoint. All around them, numerous SeeDs ran to and from their security stations with their weapons strapped to their bodies, on high alert. They all piled into the elevator and after scanning her access card, Quistis pressed the button for 3F. It was a silent ride, filled with uncertainty and tension; everyone was lost in their own thoughts, trying to come up with a plan that would save Balamb Garden. After too long, the doors slid open again and they all filed out after Quistis.

Xu greeted them with a salute. "Headmistress. The debriefing room has been prepared for you."

"Thank you, Xu." Quistis offered a nod in lieu of a salute, and led the group to the same room they'd used before.

Once everyone was settled in their respective seats—Quistis at the head of the table, the trio in the same seats they'd chosen last time—the debriefing began. Nida spoke for most of the hour, repeating information about Trabia and Galbadia that he'd already outlined in his report. Every time he tried to gloss over something, Quistis would insist that she needed the verbal confirmation, likely to ensure that the reports hadn't been tampered with by Sanctus. If they could infiltrate Garden with spies so easily, who's to say they couldn't have been tampering with correspondence, too?

When he finished, Quistis shook her head, gaze trained on the table. "Sending children in as spies . . . I never would've thought that Sanctus could stoop this low."

Seifer scoffed and muttered, "Like were we any different?"

Her eyes darted up to meet his, and a frown marred her normally beautiful features. "I . . ." She trailed off, ending her sentence with another shake of her head. After letting out a deep sigh, she then looked over at Selphie, asking if there had been any new information or developments that Nida hadn't covered.

Unknowingly, Seifer cringed at the question, and Selphie glanced over at him, uncertain. He didn't speak, so Selphie faced Quistis again. "Well . . . it's not concrete, but we may have found something."

Quistis gestured for Selphie to continue, but she was interrupted by the opening of the door. Squall slipped into the room, nodding in apology to Quistis. After she returned the motion, Selphie cleared her throat and continued.

"So while the new security team was inspecting Ragnarok, Seifer and I stopped by Rinoa's to say hi to her and Zell." Beside Quistis, Squall's expression darkened and his eyes flickered towards Seifer, though he didn't say anything. "It might not be much, but we found records showing that Fujin and Raijin had traveled to Trabia right around the time of the first attack."

Quistis cinched her eyebrows in confusion. "Fujin and Raijin? I . . . No one has mentioned them, or even really seen them, since the end of the war. Except for you, Seifer, I'm sure."

All he did was shrug, and Selphie kept going.

"Right, that's why it was kind of weird. Rinoa mentioned that she'd seen them leaving town, dressed for cold weather. So Seifer decided it was a good idea to have the train station pull departure and arrival records. They were on there, multiple times, under aliases."

For a moment, Quistis was silent. Then, she asked, "Were there records of them heading to Galbadia before that attack?"

Selphie looked over at Seifer, and he cleared his throat as he sat up in his chair. "No. Their trip to Trabia, which is when Rinoa first saw them, was the last record. But she swears that she saw them again in the last week."

"Do you still have the records?" Squall asked. "We should have a specialist analyze them for more evidence."

Seifer grit his teeth. "No. I—They're gone. But it shouldn't be hard to have them pull it up again."

Squall's eyes narrowed imperceptibly. To Seifer, it looked like his former rival was disappointed in him, or almost as if he'd expected Seifer to not follow through with his lead, and it rubbed him the wrong way. But, it was also entirely possible that Squall was simply being Squall, and Seifer was reading into his reaction too much. Old times were old times, after all. Perhaps the stoic commander had changed, too.

Quistis rose from her chair and propped her fingers up on the table. "Well, if that's the only lead you three have discovered, let's make the most of it. Seifer, Selphie, see if you can find any information on Fujin and Raijin's current whereabouts, or any more records on where they've been since the attacks have happened. Nida, pull the records for all personnel coming in or going out of Garden in the past week. We can have our analyst cross-reference those with the train records and see if any other anomalies show."

The three of them rose, following Quistis' example. She offered a salute, which Nida and Selphie returned, and then she and Squall left the room. Nida faced them and said, "I'll meet up with you guys later. Let me know if you find anything."

Seifer nodded, and then it was just he and Selphie left. They shared a heated look; Selphie seemed to understand, better than he'd anticipated, how he was feeling right at that very moment. Before this whole fiasco and their somewhat forced partnership, he would've never guessed that they had so much in common: nightmares haunting them since the war, the tendency to latch onto busy work, their defense mechanisms and pushing people who cared about them away. Now, after Mira, and possibly Fujin and Raijin, it seemed like that list just kept growing longer.

Of all people. I never would've expected her.

As soon as that thought crossed his mind, Selphie glanced over at the door and then back at him. "Let's go find them," she stated, with a firm nod.

He returned the gesture, and they headed back down to the lobby, figuring that was a even, neutral place to start. They'd barely rounded the corner from the stairs when a white, blinding light flashed across Seifer's vision.

"Fuck," he cursed, throwing his arm up to shield his eyes, though it was a bit too late for that. He didn't stop in time and plowed right into Selphie's back, due to his temporary blindness, and she echoed his sentiment.

On reflex, his arm shot out and he grabbed her shoulder, pulling her back upright. One problem fixed, one to go. He blinked rapidly, trying to clear his vision. From his left, he heard someone exclaim, "Awesome!" before running off.

"Hey!" Selphie yelled after them. "Don't run away from me!"

Though everything in his vision was still a little washed-out, for the most part, he could see normally again. Someone must've set off a camera flash right in his face for his eyes to be so fucked up for such a long amount of time.

"The hell was that about?" Seifer asked, throwing his hand up in the air in the guy's direction.

"I don't know, but I'm gonna go demand answers!" Selphie exclaimed, sprinting off after the kid.

He let out a short sigh before racing after her. If he didn't know any better, he would've thought Selphie was a marathon runner, what with how fast she caught up to the "culprit". When he finally joined them, she was already in mid-tirade.

"What were you thinking, asshole?! Garden is basically on lockdown due to a terrorist threat. You can't just go around snapping pictures in people's faces and scaring the hell outta them!" Even though she was practically half his size, Seifer had to admit that, when angry, Selphie was a little intimidating.

Apparently, the culprit agreed. He shrunk back from Selphie, face twisting up in supposed regret. "I'm sorry, SeeD Tilmitt! I just . . . I saw him, and—" His eyes flickered to Seifer. "—I had to take a picture."

"I'm not a fuckin' celebrity, kid," Seifer said, from between clenched teeth.

"Well, I mean, kinda . . ."

Selphie poked him in the chest—pretty hard, too, judging from the way the kid staggered back. "Well from now on, don't do it anymore!"

"Yes, SeeD Tilmitt! I promise! I just needed his picture to complete the trio, but I swear I won't—"

Seifer stepped closer to them. In a low, threatening voice, he asked, "The trio?"

The kid sputtered, staring up, and up, at Seifer with wide eyes. "U-Uh, yeah . . . You used to head the Disciplinary Committee, right? Way back before the war? Before you—uh, yeah. Before the war?"

"Yeah, so?"

"Well, I figured since I saw the chick with the eye-patch and the super tall dude with the frickin' huge arms earlier, that I—"

Seifer lunged for him, grabbing his lapel and yanking the kid closer. When they were nose-to-nose, Seifer spat, "You what?"

"I-I-I saw them! Earlier! I'm not making it up, I swear!"

"Show me, damn it!" Seifer let go of the kid long enough to give him time to fumble for his phone.

After almost dropping it twice, he finally pulled up his gallery and turned the phone around. Seifer had to reach out to grab it, the kid was shaking so hard. Sure enough, it was a side profile of Fujin and Raijin, walking through the lobby of Balamb Garden. Fujin's hair was longer, like Rinoa mentioned, but the unique color of her hair and her eye-patch were a dead give-away. There was no one else that looked quite like Raijin either—didn't have the same stature or sheer mass.

There was no doubt about it. They were as involved with Sanctus as Mira was.

Seifer dropped his hand to his side. Everything that had been pushing him forward, kept him strong, kept him going, seeped out of him. How could they do this? To Garden, to him? Without a doubt, there was only one way this day could end, and even more than before, he wasn't sure he was capable of dealing the final blow.

Selphie walked up to Seifer, a bitter, sorrowful, but understanding expression twisting her features. Hesitantly, she reached out and slid her fingers over his, taking the phone out of his hand when she pulled back. One glance was all it took to confirm the same thing that Seifer now knew, and she led her hand fall, too, holding back a sniffle.

The kid shuffled forward, reaching out towards them for a moment before he changed his mind and stepped back again. "Can I—Can I maybe have my phone back?"

With quite an impressive glare, Selphie whirled around and chucked the phone back at him. He exclaimed in surprise, but caught it against his chest, before backing up even farther. Before he could run away again, Seifer looked up at him sharply. "Wait."

"W-What is it?" the kid stammered.

"Which way did they go? Did you see?" Seifer demanded.

"Uh . . . I—I'm pretty sure they . . . they were heading that way, I think?" the kid replied, pointing behind him to nowhere in particular.

"Damn it! You have no fuckin' clue, do you?" Seifer shoved his hands through his hair, and a spike of panic lanced through him.

Selphie's glare deepened. "If you ever want to make SeeD, you're gonna have to learn how to pay better attention than that! Security was upped for a reason, you idiot!" She ran past Seifer, grabbing the bottom of his sleeve and pulling him along with her. "I gotta call Squall and Quistis!"

"What about Nida?" Seifer asked, breathless as they sprinted back towards the elevator.

Selphie skidded to a halt, her head twisting around almost comically fast. "Wha—Since when have you known his name?!"

Seifer scoffed as he too came to a stop. "Since always."

She stared at him for a moment before shaking her head vigorously, as if shaking herself out of it. "Never mind! Come on!"

As soon as the elevator released them, Selphie sprinted through the double doors leading into Quistis' office. Luckily for them, Squall, Xu, and Nida were also in there. Their arrival interrupted whatever discussion the four of them had been having, and they faced the door in surprise.

"Quistis! Quistis, we need to see the camera footage!" Selphie yelled, stomping her foot for emphasis. "Stat! A.S.A.P! Right now!"

Quistis blinked at them. "Uh, whatever for, Selphie?"

"Some punk took a picture of me when we got down to the lobby, and it turns out he fuckin' saw Fujin and Raijin earlier today," Seifer explained, his chest heaving still.

"A picture?" Xu asked with an eyebrow raised, at the same time Squall said, "Wait, earlier today?"

"Yes and yes," Selphie gasped, moving around Quistis' desk as the headmistress sat down and wiggled her mouse.

A few seconds later, Quistis had the footage pulled up on the screen. Seifer edged around the desk as well and leaned down beside Selphie, his brows furrowed in concentration. Quistis set the speed to two-times as fast so they could get through hours of footage a little bit faster.

As soon as Seifer saw the top of Fujin's head move into view from the bottom left, he slammed his hand down on the desk. "There she is!"

He must've surprised Quistis, because she accidentally paused the video. After glancing sidelong at him, she pressed the play button again. Fujin moved farther up the main bridge from the entrance, Raijin right at her side as per usual. When they walked past the directory, the kid who had taken a picture of Seifer appeared at the top of the screen, likely coming down from the dorms. He was glued to his phone, hardly paying attention to his surroundings until Fujin and Raijin brushed past him—literally. Raijin's shoulder bumped into the kid, and when the kid looked up, his jaw dropped in surprise. Frantically, he lifted his phone and must've snapped a photo. Surprisingly, neither Fujin nor Raijin noticed.

They disappeared down the hall towards the Infirmary, and Quistis shook her head in confusion. "Why the Infirmary? There are no students admitted right now, and aside from patients, Dr. Kadowaki is the only person present at all times."

Seifer straightened, crossing his arms across his chest. An ominous sense of dread overcame him, and he asked, "Does Dr. K have full access to Garden?"

Squall looked over at Seifer sharply, his brows furrowed. "Yes, she does."

Selphie gasped and covered her mouth. "You don't think they hurt her, do you? Not Dr. Kadowaki!"

Nida hurried towards the door, shouting over his shoulder, "I'll go check on her! You keep looking through the footage!"

Hastily, Quistis reached for the mouse and fast-forwarded through the footage. Shortly after, Fujin and Raijin reappeared, and this time, they headed for the elevator. A few seconds later, the elevator moved down and out of sight.

"Down?" Seifer muttered to himself.

Squall cursed under his breath, surprising Seifer. "The MD level."

"The hell is that?" Seifer turned around, leaning back against the top of the desk.

"It's where all of the maintenance happens. The mechanism for making Garden mobile, the electricity, the hydraulic system—all of it," Squall explained, shaking his head in disbelief. "Why would they go there, and not plant the bomb in the headmaster—or in this case, the headmistress'—office? Why not follow the precedent they set?"

No one said anything, until Selphie sucked in a sharp breath. She turned and looked at Seifer, her face pale. "You! You said Balamb was the soul. It's the center of everything, the biggest Garden. They don't want to just take out the headmaster this time, they want to take out everything. They're gonna blow up the entire thing, finish what you started—or tried to do—during the war!"

As soon as Selphie spoke, Seifer braced himself on the edge of the desk. She was right. One-hundred percent right. All of those times after the war that he heard Fujin blame Garden for the way their lives had ended up, for the way they'd treated Seifer, for literally every single bad thing that had happened in the world . . . What other reason could it be? What other goal could they have?

"Holy fuckin' Hyne," he gasped, his head dropping onto his chest.

"Squall, can my card get us down to the MD level?" Selphie asked.

Squall shook his head, but pulled his own key card out of his wallet. "No, but mine will. There's a maintenance crew down there usually. The fact that we haven't heard anything from them by way of warning is not a good sign."

"No, it's not," Seifer agreed, shoving off the desk and moving to follow Selphie out of the office.

Quistis pushed out of her chair in a hurry. "Wait! Your weapons. Trabia sent over all of your things that you left; Hyperion and Strange Vision are with them." She pointed to the couch on the other side of the room, and Selphie sprinted over to it.

As she was rummaging through the bags for their weapons, Quistis pressed a switch on the underside of her desk. A shrill alarm rang out through the room, causing Seifer to wince at the sudden, sharp sound. Quistis and Squall breezed past them, and before they ran out the doors, Quistis paused.

"We'll take care of the evacuations. I—Selphie, Seifer . . . be safe," she said in an emotional voice. Then, like a switch was flipped, her expression tightened. This time, in a more stern voice, she said, "Stop them."

Selphie offered a firm salute in response. Quistis and Squall took the elevator down first, and Selphie walked over to Seifer, holding out Hyperion to him. His gaze traveled along the sharpened, polished blade, lamenting the fact that the first action it would see in years, besides monsters, were people he'd once called family. With a heavy heart, he placed his hand over Selphie's and took the gunblade from her.

"I'm not gonna let them get away with this. I can't," he muttered, his gaze still trained on his weapon.

For a second, Selphie was silent as she stared up at him. When he finally looked up and met her eyes, she held his gaze with a startling level of intensity. "Then let's go stop them."

Unable to break away, he stared at her, noticing with odd, ill-placed timing that her eyes were such a vivid, compelling shade of green. That's right. I noticed that for the first time at the orphanage, I think . . . How the hell did I never notice that before?

It was Selphie who finally moved past him, spurring him into action. Once they were in the elevator, she scanned Squall's keycard and pressed the button for the MD level. With a groan, the elevator headed down into Garden's depths. The usual choice of elevator music—classical piano—was replaced with a repeating message that alternated with a blare of the emergency alarm: "All Garden students and personnel, please evacuate. This is not a drill."

They shot past the lobby; a herd of staff and cadets were lined up at the front entrance, waiting to file out. Just before they moved between floors again, Quistis and Squall sprinted past the elevator, likely hurrying to ensure everyone got out. Then their view out the glass doors went dark again, peppered by the flash of fluorescent lights.

As they rode in silence, Seifer looked over at Selphie. She was staring out the doors with a grim expression, her hand gripping Strange Vision so tightly that her knuckles were white. When she felt his eyes on her, she looked up at him with a silent question in her eyes.

"Have you been down here before?" he asked, his voice quiet. He didn't know why, but he suddenly felt the need to whisper.

Selphie shook her head, facing forward again. "No, I—When Squall got Garden moving, I was . . . at the missile base."

Hynedamnit. Of course she was. "Oh. Right."

"I have no idea what we're walking into," she mumbled, sounding uncertain for the first time today. "I have no clue what it looks like down here, I have no idea what happened to the maintenance crew . . . Nothing."

Seifer grit his teeth. "Yeah, me neither. Whatever it is, whatever we see . . . we have to stop them."

Selphie looked back over at him. "I know." A beat passed before, in an even quieter voice, she asked, "Do you?"

His eyes slid shut, and he shook his head, unable to reply. The elevator announced their arrival and they stepped out onto a metal walkway, their footsteps ringing out against the steel. The evacuation alarm must've flipped off the main overhead lights, because the entire level was awash in amber. On the far wall, the little emergency light flashed white and red, illuminating everything in the room before throwing eerie shadows onto them.

Seifer stepped forward first, holding out his arm in front of Selphie. They crept forward, him constantly fighting to remain ahead, while she kept pushing his arm out of the way. A few feet past the elevator, the first body appeared. Thankfully, it didn't look mutilated or unrecognizable; if Seifer had to guess, the guy looked like he was just asleep. A quick check of his pulse revealed the opposite to be true though, and he rose to his feet again, shaking his head at Selphie.

Her expression darkened, and they continued on, farther into the dark. Another body appeared, and then another. With each subsequent casualty, Seifer's jaw clenched. Will it ever stop? Will they ever stop? . . . Is this how they thought about me, towards the end?

When they reached the bottom of the long staircase, a giant steel pillar stretched upwards in front of them. They both followed it all the way up to where it disappeared into the ceiling. Selphie said, "That must be one of the pistons that works the flying mechanism."

"Piston?" Seifer echoed.

She shrugged, looking back down at him. "It's basically a giant engine—or so Zell tried to explain to me."

Seifer looked over to their left, tracing the path around the room. "Where the hell do we go from here? Where do you control this 'engine'?"

Again, she shrugged. "Should we split up and try to find them?"

"No," Seifer rebutted, immediately. "We stick together. Let's try this way," he suggested, moving past her to the right.

"After you," she quipped. Seifer chose not to respond.

Before they knew it, they'd come full-circle. Standing in the exact same spot as before, Seifer propped his hands on his hips and glared around the room. "Where the hell are they? The bodies confirmed our guess, so why haven't we run into them yet?"

Selphie shook her head, seemingly equally as discouraged. Her eyes drifted past him, and without warning, she leaped toward him. He caught her, his hands cupping her elbows as he reeled back in surprise. "What the he—"

"Down there!" she hissed, pulling him down into a crouch beside her. As she pointed behind him, she whispered, "Look!"

Seifer twisted around, staring in the direction she was indicating. Down below, on a small ledge overlooking what looked like a turbine, stood Fujin and Raijin. Raijin was standing at the panel, hitting a bunch of buttons, while Fujin was crouched down beside him, fiddling with something underneath the panel.

They were too far for Seifer to see them clearly, so he leaned over and murmured, "What are they doing?"

"I . . ." Selphie trailed off, glancing up at him in concern. They were so close, he could see the slight sprinkling of freckles across the bridge of her nose. "I think she's planting the bomb."

"Fuckin' . . . damn it!" he spat, followed by a loud exhale.

Selphie pressed her finger to her lips, and proceeded to shuffle towards the railing. There was a small divot in the metal, and after she pulled a lever, it slid open to reveal a skinny ladder that presumably led down to the control panel—to Fujin and Raijin. Quickly, but quietly, they made their way down the ladder and along the narrow pathway.

When they stood just a few feet behind Fujin and Raijin, they paused. Seifer stood there, staring at the back of his friends' heads, his expression neutral. The slight curl at the ends of Fujin's hair, the white scar on the back of Raijin's left shoulder; they were familiar to him—so familiar—but at the same time, as he watched them work to blow Garden apart, he wondered if he'd ever really known them.

Selphie, understanding better than anyone else could in this moment in time, let Seifer take the lead. Whenever he was ready to confront them, she would be beside him. He knew that. After taking a deep breath, he tightened his grip on Hyperion's hilt, and called out, "Fuu. Rai."

They whirled around at the sound of his voice, as in-sync with each other as the three of them had once been. Now that he was staring into their eyes, he felt his anger from before swirling in the pit of his stomach, threatening to consume him.

Fighting to keep his voice steady, he asked, "Why?"

That was all it took to convey the pain he was feeling: one word, nothing more.

Fujin and Raijin shared a heavy look, before facing him again. Raijin shook his head as if he couldn't believe that Seifer was standing right in front of them, that he'd been the one to catch them in the act. Funny, Seifer felt the same.

Finally, Fujin said, "For you."

Her voice nearly broke him. It was just as raspy as he remembered, but there was a new level of determination in it, in her eye. He was thankful that they didn't try to deny their guilt. It would've been an offense to the memory of their friendship, to him.

"Bullshit," Seifer spat. "I don't buy that. For me? I would've never fuckin' asked you to do this. Never."

Raijin stepped forward, throwing his arms out to the side. "You didn't have to, ya know? We saw you, Seifer. Saw you after the war, after what Garden did to you."

Fujin nodded. "So we did it for you."

Selphie scoffed in disbelief. "But all this death . . . it was for nothing, don't you two see that? You may have thought you were doing this for Seifer, but this isn't the way to go about it! Killing people never is! He learned that, so where were you guys when he learned better?"

Seifer looked over at Selphie and shook his head imperceptibly. At his signal, she stepped back again, sighing in consent. When he faced Fujin and Raijin again, he could see that Fujin was not happy with Selphie's response. Instead of her speaking, though, it was Raijin who chose to reply.

"You wouldn't get it, Selphie! You weren't with him like we were! We followed him to the end of the world—we did! Not you! Sure, you guys did what me and Fuu couldn't do in the end, but . . . you didn't see him—" All of Raijin's energy faded, and he muttered the end of his tirade. "—broken like we did."

"You're wrong," Selphie insisted. "I may not have seen him the way you two did, but I still saw him. We still helped each other leave our pasts behind. We all helped him, Raijin. All of us. But this?" She gestured around them. "This is not helping."

Raijin just shook his head, and Fujin glanced behind them at the bomb. The timer was now ticking away; she must've activated it when Seifer and Selphie had been climbing down to confront them. When she faced them again, she clenched her jaw, determined.

"We won't stop. Even if you can't see it," Fujin explained as she looked at Seifer, "we know we're doing the right thing. This is the right thing. All Garden does is hurt people. They take children in and force them to—" She paused to take a deep breath since her voice began to fade from speaking so much. "—become killers, to do their bidding for money. They don't care who they stomp on, or whose lives they ruin. Seifer never achieved his dream, he never became anything. All that hard work, all that . . . effort, for nothing. This is us taking revenge for him."

Seifer raised Hyperion and pointed it at them, his face twisting with anger. "Don't fuckin' talk about me like I'm not standin' right here!"

Fujin closed her mouth with a snap and stared at Seifer with apathy. He returned her look, but his was filled with barely restrained hatred—an emotion he never thought he could feel towards Fujin. "I never asked you to take revenge for me. I never asked for any of this to happen. I'm sorry, Fujin, I—" He lowered his arm, cocking back Hyperion's hammer in preparation. "I can't let you do this. Not in my name."

They all sensed the turn in the air. The second Fujin reached for her chakram, Selphie blew past Seifer and threw a Blizzaga in Fujin and Raijin's direction. Immediately after the ice solidified, she followed up with an Aero, shattering the ice and sending it flying towards Fujin and Raijin. Seifer feinted right as she moved left, flanking the duo.

Seifer swung Hyperion down towards Raijin, intending on dealing the final blow right here, right now. At the last second, Raijin's large frame emerged from the ice dust. He swung his staff up to parry Seifer's blow, and the shock that rippled down Hyperion's blade pushed Raijin off balance. Unfortunately, it also caused Hyperion to glance off the end of Raijin's staff. The tip scraped along the metal floor as Seifer retaliated by swinging Hyperion up and under, catching Raijin in the side.

Raijin fell to one knee, clutching the fresh wound on his ribs. He looked up at Seifer in surprise, as if he hadn't believed Seifer would really attack them. Seifer too, though he would never admit it aloud, was shocked at his own violence. He'd wanted—needed—answers, he'd wanted his friends to pay for what they'd done to Trabia and Galbadia, but . . . had this been the way he'd wanted things to go down?

As he and Raijin were staring at one another, Selphie swung her nunchakus and caught Fujin in the jaw, sending her flying backwards towards the console. The loud crack pulled Seifer's attention away from Raijin, and he looked up at where Fujin had landed. She was draped over the console, seemingly knocked out—or at least, the little voice in the back of his mind hoped that was true, and not the alternative. He didn't think Selphie could deal a killing blow that easily, but then again . . . they were all capable of questionable things in dire circumstances.

They were mercenaries.

Pain shot up his leg and he buckled, cradling his shattered shin. While he'd been preoccupied with Fujin, Raijin had swung his staff up and caught him off-guard. "Damn it!" he exclaimed as Raijin jumped to his feet and launched himself towards Selphie.

Raijin swung his staff again, aiming for Selphie's side. With his immense strength, he could easily break Selphie's ribs. Seifer panicked, and before Raijin's staff could hit its mark, Seifer threw a Stop spell towards Raijin.

Raijin froze in mid-swing, his face scrunched in concentration. Selphie immediately leaped out of the way of Raijin's staff, scurrying over to Seifer's side. "Do you . . . do you think we can bring them both in? I'll take Fujin, you take Raijin?"

With his chest heaving, Seifer looked back over at Fujin. "No. She's gonna wake up any minute, and that Stop isn't gonna last forever. We need to—"

"The bomb!" Selphie exclaimed, turning back towards the console.

Fujin was no longer unconscious. She was crouched down beside the bomb again, her likely broken jaw tucked into her chest for support. They could hear a sequence of rapid beeps coming from the bomb, and Seifer sprinted towards her.

"Fujin! Stop!" he shouted, his hand outstretched. "You can't do this!"

The last he saw of her was her eye, filled to the brim with tears as she glanced over her shoulder at him. He raised Hyperion, tip pointed at her, ready to be driven through her chest, when she was completely consumed by flames. The strength of the heat forced him back, and he shielded his face with his forearm. By the time he looked at her again, the burnt husk that had once been Fujin had collapsed to the floor.

"Wha . . ." Seifer sputtered. When he finally pulled his gaze away from Fujin's corpse, he looked back at Selphie. She was standing in the middle of the walkway, hand outstretched towards the console; the Firaga spell had come from her.

Her arm was shaking—no, all of her was trembling like she could barely hold herself up. A second later, her other hand came up and nestled under her outstretched hand, supporting the weight. It was her face that terrified Seifer the most. He'd never seen her look so empty, so . . . dead.

With numb legs, he shuffled over to her. "Selphie . . ."

All she did was shake her head, her eyes trained on Fujin. "The bomb, we . . . we have to—"

"Don't worry! I've got it!" Nida shouted out of nowhere as he flew past them. Seifer twisted around, watching Nida as he stumbled when he saw Fujin's corpse. Nida stared at her body for a moment, before shifting his gaze away. With tense shoulders, he crouched down beside the bomb—beside her—and started fiddling with it.

Seifer took the opportunity to look back at Selphie, who was still frozen in the same position she'd been in when she'd cast the spell. He lowered his eyes, focusing on nothing in particular, and yet everything all at once. Hesitantly, he reached up, encircling her wrist with his own hand.

"Selphie . . . it's over," he mumbled.

Again, she shook her head. Just in front of them, Raijin's cry of shock, of disbelief and horror, rang out. Seifer cringed at the sound, looking over at his former friend. Raijin raced towards Nida, though whether he was trying to go to Fujin or stop Nida, Seifer wasn't entirely sure. He couldn't risk everything and wait to find out, so he threw another Stop spell at Raijin, freezing him in mid-step right behind Nida.

They'd deal with Raijin later. Right now, Selphie was his main concern.

When she didn't respond to his touch, he let go of her wrist and cupped her cheek, forcing her to look at him. "Selphie."

She blinked, causing tears to slide down her face, pooling just under her chin. " . . . What?"

"It's over. You can let go now," he murmured.

As if on cue, her arm dropped to her side and she seemed to curl in on herself. "It's over, isn't it? Really over?"

"This is. We'll deal with the rest later." He pulled away, shoving his hand into his pocket as he rested Hyperion against his thigh. "You didn't . . . You didn't have to do that for me."

With glassy eyes, she looked up at him, lashes dewy with her tears. "Yes. I did."

They stared at each other in silence, her crying, and him fighting to swallow the lump in his throat. Off in the distance, through a thick fog that made it sound like he was underwater, he heard Nida shouting something, though he couldn't pick out specific words.

Selphie turned away from him, staring ahead at Fujin's corpse again. "It's really over," she murmured, more to herself than to him. Without warning, her knees buckled, and Seifer caught her before she hit the ground.

"Really over," she kept muttering, her eyes open but unseeing.

To his surprise, he felt stinging in his eyes. He swept her the sweat-soaked strands of hair out of her face, before swinging his arm under her legs. After straightening, Selphie cradled in his arms, he looked back at Fujin and Raijin one last time. After this, after walking away from them, everything would change.

But then, everything already had.

"Yeah, Selphie. It's really over."


A/N:

Damn, it really is over. Somehow, Aren and I cranked out over 100k words in a little over a month. I'm pretty astounded. For next year's challenge, I'm just going to write a one-shot, I swear! I can't handle this multi-chap business :P

Thank you to everyone who took the time to review! We hope you guys enjoyed it! There may or may not be epilogues added later on. We wanted to get the story itself finished in time for the deadline, but considering the open ending, we definitely could round things out with an epilogue from both of their POVs to mirror the prologues.

For any future readers (after the Challenge ends), thank you for poring over the story and we'd appreciate hearing your thoughts! See you guys next year ; 3