It had been easy, almost too easy, to leave behind all that was familiar and venture to a whole new world. Seifer had taken Masamune and thrown it into the air so it spun back to the ground. The moment it hit the ground, Gilgamesh had appeared to claim it. The massive multi-armed aeon—or Guardian Force, or whatever sort of magical being he was—added Masamune to the collection of swords strapped to his back and the next thing she knew, Yuna was standing here, at the edge of a falling down orphanage, unfathomably far from home.
Rinoa was sitting in the middle of the meadow. Yuna stepped away from the stone ruins and approached her. The meadow was warm and breezy, the green grass dotted by yellow and pink wildflowers stretching as far as the eye could see.
"I didn't really think he'd be here." Rinoa looked at Yuna as she sat down beside her. "But I'd hoped."
Yuna nodded, but could think of nothing to say.
After a while, Rinoa continued. "It isn't going to work. I told Quistis I'd wait until tomorrow to try to return to Squall and Tidus, but of course I tried right away." Rinoa picked a flower from the ground and began to pluck the petals off, one at a time. "My powers are gone—I guess I'm no longer a Sorceress."
When the first flower ran out of petals, Rinoa picked another. "It's funny. I hated being a Sorceress. I was so scared of the powers, of what might happen. Of what people would think about me. Of what would happen if I lost control. I only got through it because of Squall." The second flower barren, Rinoa tossed it away. "And now they're the one thing that could save him and they're gone."
Yuna set a hand on Rinoa's shoulder. "We'll find another way."
Terra and Celes were huddled around Squall. Locke had said they needed space to work, so he and Tidus were seated several feet away. Tidus couldn't tell how things were going. Terra had gasped a little when they'd removed the jacket to reveal the wounds. Celes had pursed her lips in a way Tidus hadn't found very encouraging. They each held their hands above Squall's back. The familiar green glow of curative magic brightened and faded as they worked.
Several minutes after they'd arrived, Celes sat back and shook her head. "We need more power."
Terra dropped her hands to her sides and looked at Celes uncertainly.
"I don't think there's anything more I can do. It's up to you, Terra."
The green-haired girl looked to Celes with wide eyes. Then she looked to Locke.
Locke smiled encouragingly. "Whatever you want to do, Terra. We're here for you no matter what."
"I want to help him. I think I can. But…" Terra looked at Tidus. She seemed suddenly nervous, maybe even afraid. Tidus couldn't imagine what he'd done to frighten her.
"Don't look at her," Locke put his hands on either side of Tidus's head, forcing him to look away from Terra.
Not sure what was going on, for a minute Tidus just stared at Locke. A gust of wind whirled through the cave and Tidus could sense motion behind him. He ducked his head away from Locke and turned to see what was happening.
Celes had backed up so she was just to Tidus's right. Terra was nowhere to be seen. Standing over Squall was a not-quite-human figure. The figure had skin that was frost white with a violet pearlescence and long, wild hair that swirled around her. She held her hands slightly apart in front of her and the space between them began to glow.
Not sure if he should intervene—and even less sure of how he would intervene—Tidus stood frozen in place and imagined what he would tell Rinoa.
First, Squall got really badly injured and I was totally oblivious. Then I almost drowned him. Then I found a bunch of strangers and one of them turned into a monster…
When the glow between the figure's hands intensified so much as to be nearly blinding, she pushed her hands towards Squall. Glowing energy flowed from her to Squall, so bright Tidus had to look away.
After a few seconds the glow faded and the cave was immersed in total darkness. Tidus heard footsteps shuffling around and then a soft snap. A ball of light appeared, suspended above Celes's opened palm as she crouched between Squall and Terra. Terra seemed to have collapsed with exhaustion and Locke held her in his arms.
Tidus knelt beside Squall and was shocked to see he was no longer bleeding. His wounds were gone, healed, replaced by thick jagged scars.
"What just happened?" Tidus asked. "Was that…Terra?"
"What happened is your friend got healed." Locke scowled and tightened his hold of Terra. "Around here we say 'thank you' to people who help us, we don't interrogate them."
"Right…um… Thank you." Tidus looked at Squall again, still finding it hard to believe his wounds could have disappeared so quickly and so completely.
"Shall I revive him?" Celes asked.
Tidus looked up at Celes, to see the question seemed to be directed at him. He glanced over to see Terra seemed to be recovering—she was sitting upright on her own, Locke with just one arm supporting her back. "Sure," Tidus replied, looking back at Squall.
Celes gestured with her hand and Squall was briefly enveloped in a green glow.
Squall was on his feet almost immediately. That was not surprising—warriors revived in battle had to be prepared to act the second they regained consciousness. His eyes scanned the area, surely trying to evaluate the status of a battle that didn't exist.
"Whoa, there. Let's take it easy, alright?" Squall's eyes focused on Celes as she rose to her feet and approached him.
"Who…?" Squall seemed breathless and began to tremble. Tidus walked over to him.
"It's okay. They're here to help." Squall's eyes flashed at all those gathered around him.
When Squall's line of sight found Tidus, he relaxed, just barely. "Rinoa?" he whispered.
"She's fine. She's not here, but she's fine," Tidus replied.
With that the fire went out of Squall's eyes and his shoulders slouched forward. His whole body began to shake. Tidus set a hand on Squall's arm. His skin was cool to the touch. "He's freezing."
"Yes, that's often a side effect of that kind of magic. But there's no sense in trying to warm him up here. We should get him back to town right away."
"Are you ready to go?" Locke asked Terra.
Terra walked up to Squall and placed her palm in the center of his chest, covering a substantial scar. "He's been healed with magic before."
"That's great, but I think we've had all the fun we can stand in this cave. How about we head home?"
Terra looked back at Locke and nodded. She placed the metal plate from the leather loop around her neck into her mouth and approached the pool.
Locke and Celes did the same. Locke tossed the fourth underwater breather to Tidus and he put it over Squall's head. Terra dove into the water. Tidus led Squall to the edge of the pool by one arm. "Bite," Celes said as she placed the metal plate in Squall's mouth. Then she gripped his other arm. Though he didn't resist, Squall appeared fearful of the water and Tidus hesitated. Locke shoved both Squall and Tidus from behind as Celes jumped into the water.
Squall seemed to panic as he splashed into the water, but Tidus and Celes pulled him firmly forward. Perhaps realizing that he could breathe despite being submersed, Squall became complacent and allowed himself to be led along.
As soon as they arrived at Balamb Garden, the SeeDs had given their reports and then been ordered by the Headmaster to take some time off. Selphie and Irvine had gone to visit Selphie's previous home, Trabia Garden. Quistis was presumably in her dorm room and Zell had gone to his mother's house in the town of Balamb.
That left Rinoa, Yuna, and Ellone to wander Balamb Garden on their own.
"Now what?" Rinoa paced a circle around Yuna and Ellone, who were seated on a bench in a corner of the quad. "We just sit here?"
"The Headmaster did suggest we get some rest," Ellone replied.
Rinoa scowled. "He's not my Headmaster. In fact, he's not really in charge of anyone. He made Squall Commander of this Garden. Squall's the only one who can tell anyone what to do. And technically, Squall still works for me."
Ellone raised her eyebrows. "Squall works for you?"
"Yes. The Forest Owls hired SeeD to liberate Timber. Timber isn't liberated, so he's still under contract."
Yuna shifted on the bench. "Ok, so as the boss of the Commander, what do you think we should do?"
"I don't know. But something!"
"Could you summon another Guardian Force?" Ellone asked.
"It doesn't sound like the Guardian Forces haven't been that cooperative. And they may not know where Squall and Tidus are now, even if they were willing to take us there. And if they see Yuna here, they might want to send her back to Spira."
"Hmm…" Ellone, Yuna, and Rinoa were quiet, each thinking hard.
"So I guess we need to figure out where they are before we try to get there." Ellone tapped her fingers on her knee. "I can send someone back. To the moment they were separated from you. Then maybe we could at least see the where they were."
"But you haven't been able to connect with Squall."
"I wouldn't have to connect to Squall at all. I would send someone into your past, Rinoa."
"Okay! We should try that. Can you send Yuna?"
"I don't know Yuna very well. It should probably be Zell or Quistis."
"Alright. I know where Zell lives. Let's go!"