The soldiers Raijin recruited to help him out lasted maybe ten seconds each against Zell, who was probably doing the jerkass thing and playing with them before knocking them out with solid punches to their heads. Squall had to handle Raijin himself, which of course was no issue (Raijin never was that much of a fighter, probably why he never got SeeD) but the brunette was taking his own sweet time bringing the man down.

Raijin relied too much on brute strength, which given Squall's better training and slightly smaller frame, he just dodged the jabs and swings of the battle-stick while retaliating with quick, precise strikes. He could have killed Raijin ten times over, but Squall didn't want to kill a former classmate, regardless of how useless they were, and he was highly distracted by the thought of Zidane going poof on him.

Squall risked a look back toward Zidane was, and Raijin let out a howl of triumph. That look was not worth the crack to the head Squall was given and he dropped like a rock to the ground, Raijin lifting his stick in victory and hooting. A second later, Zell tackled him to the ground, straddling his waist and began to repeatedly punch the traitor in the face.

Squall saw stars and lights for a few seconds before he managed to shake off the possible concussion and get back to his feet to witness Raijin throw Zell off of him, already half-way through a Cura spell. How the idiot learned to stock magic, let alone use it or even junction it, Squall wasn't sure, but all of his and Zell's damage fixed right before their eyes. Raijin was dumb, but he didn't really know pain (getting beaten by Fujin on an hourly basis probably helped) and now that he had curative spells, even Squall and Zell's combined strength might not be enough to take him down without killing him.

"What's the plan, Squall?" Zell asked as he bounced on the balls of his feet, fists raised and seeming to analyze Raijin.

"Try not to murder him," Squall muttered. "But you can hurt him all you want."

"I like the sound of that! C'mere, Raijin!"

Zell stomped both feet into the ground shoulder-length apart, fists tucked at his waist as he started to tap into his junctioned magic. Before he could unless his planned fiery fury, however, an odd sound like an overclocked gear began to scream from the hotel lobby behind Raijin. Squall recognized the sound—he had heard it several times before in the illegal 'arenas' the students held in the training ground at times.

Squall didn't even shout—he kicked Zell in the side and leapt to the side himself. Raijin whirled around and jumped, narrowly missing a Zan technique as the pinwheel, dagger-sharp edges glinting, raced under him then pivoted itself into the air between where Squall and Zell were. Fujin slid out between the hotel doors, catching the pinwheel and facing the lobby.

She did properly slam her foot into a stunned Raijin's calf. "THIRD." She growled.

"What's the matter," a taunting voice came from inside, and Zidane burst through the doors himself, swinging his daggers in a mesmerizing display. "Not feelin' it?"

Squall had no idea how Zidane got into the hotel without any of them noticing, but that was a question for another time. Now that Fujin was out in the open, and any possibility of threats from within the hotel now eliminated, the SeeD (plus one) had the advantage.

"So you're the commander, huh?" Zell was back on his feet, kick to his side forgotten. "Pack your bags and get the hell outta Balamb!"

Both traitors ignored him, Raijin openly gawking at Zidane, especially the tail. "Fujin, he has a tail, ya know?"

She elbowed him and he gasped in pain. "FOCUS."

"You're outnumbered and outgunned," Squall said, swinging his gunblade down in a neutral position. "Are you still willing to fight?"

"RAGE." Fujin growled.

"Of course, ya know!" Raijin turned back toward Zell and Squall, reassuming his battle position. "Time to get serious, ya know! Taste a Raijin Special!"

The man charged at Zell, stick over his head and swinging it down. Zell managed to hop to the side to avoid the initial hit, but the upward swing got him under the chin, tossing the boxer back a few steps. Dazed, Zell fell to his knees, forcing Squall to rush to his defense as Raijin swung again. Wood splintered against steel, and Squall shifted his gunblade slightly and pulled the trigger.

The vibration of the shot, and the bullet slamming into Raijin's shoulder, made the man stagger back, narrowly missing Fujin as she was fending off a flurry of attacks from Zidane. Her pinwheel managed to keep the dagger edges from slicing her, but his speed far outmatched hers, her only choice to parry and try to create space.

Fujin ducked under Zidane's horizontal spinning attack, and as his weapons whirled harmlessly above her head she swung her pinwheel at his midsection. Ribbons of pain sliced through Zidane as she cut his side and back, and he had to fight the urge to vocalize the hurt. Instead he threw his body weight away from her, landing ungracefully a foot away from Fujin's crouched form in a bloody heap.

Pain wasn't new to Zidane—after the first contact, he got over it quick enough and got back to his feet, pushing off the ground and seeming to glide through the air at her. He locked his daggers together and swung the combined weapon at her; Fujin sidestepped the blow, but before she could deliver retribution Zidane's feet hit the ground and he pivoted, one foot in the air aiming for her head. He was too short to actually contact, but it still made her back off, giving him the breathing room to launch himself back into the air, his element of battle.

Raijin kept both Zell and Squall from assisting Zidane, using his own pain tolerance and larger weapon to keep them from rushing the blond. In fact, Raijin was successful in forcing them to back up—Squall was finding this battle becoming drawn out, the only thing saving Raijin was their combined effort to not kill him outright. As it was, however, he may have to abandon that order and issue one for their blood.

Zidane was practically flitting in the air around Fujin, somehow seeming to defy gravity. Although she was a melee fighter with a decent arsenal of range proficiency, Fujin was not accustomed to an enemy like this humanoid creature thing, and it was starting to piss her off. The thief temporarily sheathed his daggers as he flipped over Fujin, and she suddenly felt his hands on her shoulders. For several split seconds, he balanced himself upside down on her shoulders, and he grinned roguishly at her when she chanced a look up.

He flashed one hand over her face, and Fujin saw her prized—and secretly stashed—megalixir. Somehow in the aerial dance, the blond picked her pocket.

That was the last straw. Fury infused itself into Fujin's expression and she lashed out with her free hand, grabbing Zidane by the bowtie of his vest. She literally threw him off; barely avoiding him colliding into Squall and Raijin. The men had separated just as Zidane flew the air, and both were shocked when Fujin followed the thrown man.

"SAI!"

Zidane's feet barely touched the ground before Fujin was on him, and he only managed to get one dagger back up before she began to assault him with a flurry of swings of her pinwheel. He blocked a few hits, but none had the usual strength to throw her off, and he felt the blades of her weapon cut deep into his arms. The last diagonal slice he couldn't parry and she sliced through his vest and into the tender flesh of his chest.

Squall had seen several companions get cut or gunned down on the field—in his line of work, it happened a lot. He was trained not to panic, as magic and items often fixed most wounds sustained on the field, and Zidane was still standing when Fujin stopped her rampage, even swinging his dagger to make her back off. But the image of Zidane so mangled, bleeding so profusely and gritting his teeth in obvious pain, Squall felt the tension of something in his mind threatening to snap.

Get a grip!

Squall was punished for his hesitation—Raijin and Fujin switched targets, and he barely managed to avoid a Zan headed right for him. It arched upwards centimeters from him, still slicing his shirt and grazing his abdomen as it retracted back to its owner.

"We can't go like this, man!" Zell shouted as he kicked Raijin off away from Zidane, who was now sporting some sort of item between his teeth. Raijin apparently really wanted it back.

Squall hated to admit Zell was right, but they couldn't. Fujin and Raijin were out to kill them; they had to fight the same way. "Fall back to me!" Squall called as he backed up toward the main square.

Both blonds sprinted to him, and once they reached him, pivoted around. Squall found himself stepping forward and pushing Zidane protectively behind him, gunblade up as the enemy pair advanced.

"I don't care how you manage it," Squall muttered. "Even if it results in possible fatality, Raijin and Fujin must be put down."

Zell hooted and charged, temporarily tying up both as Squall looked down at the bloodied Zidane. Placing his hand on Zidane's head, he casted a quick Cura from his reserves, and the thief's eyes told him all the gratitude he felt. Squall also snatched the item he picked from Raijin out of his mouth, noticing it was a packaged supplement meant to be given to a Guardian Force.

"Master thief…" Squall muttered.

Zidane grinned. "That chick's got somethin' else on her, although not in her pocket. But I can feel it."

Before Squall could ask, Zidane joined Zell just in time to block Fujin's deadly Sai attack. He flipped, toes of his shoes slamming into the bottom of her chin and making her stagger. As he righted himself Zidane also brought up his daggers, the tips slicing through her suit to form twin vertical cuts on her stomach. They weren't deep, but they were enough to force Fujin to fall back away from them.

Now given breathing room, Squall held his hand out toward Raijin and closed his eyes, focusing. Drawing was part science and part mystical, his brain somehow able to 'reach' toward Raijin and see his reserves of magic. It was sort of a tangible force, a colored wisp Squall could see in his mind's eye. Swirling in a pool in Raijin was a reserve of Protect spells, and Squall manipulated the casting sequence to steal from Raijin's reserves instead of his own to cast the protective magic first on Zell, then Zidane, then himself.

Raijin was too tied up with Zell to block Squall also stealing Curas from him, grunting in frustration as the bruises and fractures Zell sported were fixed by the magic. Zidane's cuts were also all but gone by the time Squall finished, and Raijin's cache of curatives were now dry. Damn Squall and his skilled use of magic! He always was damn good at that.

Squall turned his drawing to Fujin, his brow furrowing at the strange, purplish wave swirling among her own arsenal. He felt her mental barrier start to come up, and he snatched the magic and withdrew just as she put up the draw block. When the magic entered Squall's reserve, the torrent of strength made him stagger momentarily. Drawing Guardian Forces from their owners was always risky, and always left the drawer somewhat disorganized.

But now that she lost her junctions, Fujin slowed down considerably, giving Zidane an even bigger advantage of speed. Comfortable with their new advantages, Squall tipped the balance of the fight by joining, helping Zell with Raijin first.

Raijin took a fist to the face, and as he whirled around from the force of it, Squall slammed the butt of his gunblade handle between his eyes. Blood gushed from Raijin's nose and he dropped to the ground, lying still even as Zell stepped on his back in a rush to get to Zidane.

Zidane had backed Fujin into the hotel again, and she was forced into a corner with several gashes across her arms, thighs and abdomen. Although none were fatal, the several portals for blood to leak out were making her slow and lethargic. Without knocking her out, she knew the freak with a tail won.

"RAIJIN…" Fujin panted. Zell burst into the hotel lobby, bouncing his feet with fists raised; Squall followed after him, dragging Raijin by the foot.

Squall threw Raijin at her feet, and after several seconds of staring at the three, she lowered her weapon. She even dropped it, and Squall nodded, Zidane and Zell relaxing from their battle stances. Squall once more went into his mind, finding his junctioned Cures and casted a few on Raijin—enough to wake him, but not let him move too much; he tossed a few onto Fujin before she passed out from blood loss.

Raijin groaned as he came to, eyes opening and sitting up with a hiss of pain. He saw Fujin's pinwheel on the ground, and groaned again. Obviously angered, Fujin turned to the window overlooking the sea, and Raijin used the wall to pull himself off the ground.

Squall stepped forward. "Are the two of you taking orders from the sorceress?"

Zidane frowned, the word once more bringing 'Ultimecia' to mind, but this time he kept quiet. Fujin fidgeted a bit before whirling around, frowning severely. For a rather pretty face, she sure looked ugly when mad.

"NEGATIVE," she replied. Why the hell did the woman speak so loudly?

"The sorceress has nothin' to do with us, ya know?" for being pretty much half-dead, Raijin had enough energy to raise his voice too, and sound incredibly defensive. "We're actin' on our own!"

"Own plan…?" Squall put his hand on his hip, obviously not buying it.

"We're on Seifer's side, ya know!" Raijin shrugged almost helplessly as Fujin turned her eyes to the ground.

Squall dropped his arm and shook his head slowly. "… That's up to you, but… Enough is enough. This isn't an internal Garden conflict."

"We can't back out, ya know…"

"…NEGATIVE."

Raijin rubbed the back of his head where it still hurt from one of Zell's hits. "Seifer has a lot of followers, but we're his only friends… We're a posse, ya know…?" he looked toward the hotel doors, where he was fairly sure soldiers would burst in any second. "The Galbadian soldiers only listen to Seifer cause they fear the sorceress. Without us, Seifer wouldn't have a posse, ya know…?" Raijin put his hands on his hips and sighed heavily.

Zell stepped forward, for once relatively calm. "If you guys stand behind him that much…" he threw his hands out in a gesture. "Tell frickin' Seifer to stop this nonsense!"

The two looked at each other, speaking at once, "AFFIRMATIVE!" "We ain't no sell-outs!"

Raijin went on with, "We're behind Seifer all the way, ya know!"

This time, Squall looked at the ground, looking a bit lost as he tried to think. Zidane looked up at him, and their eyes met, although the mercenary wasn't sure what he was trying to say with the look.

"Okay." Squall muttered. "Understood. So you want nothing to do with Garden now?" a second of stillness, uncomfortable silence, and Raijin nodded.

Squall shrugged. "… From now on, we're not gonna hold back like we did."

The pair nodded again, fully understanding. Squall turned around, walking toward the door, his mind a torrent of thoughts. Zidane said something to him, but Squall didn't hear it, too busy thinking.

Raijin looked away, comically looking both in pain and ready to burst into emotional tears. "Don't wanna… talk anymore, ya know… Kinda painful…" he sniffled, "Ya know…"

He yelped as Fujin gave him a swift kick to the leg. "WIMP!" She chastised. Squall turned when he heard the thud, and she shoved at Raijin. "RUN!"

Raijin didn't say anything more, and Squall sidestepped as they raced out of the hotel. He heard them shouting at the soldiers, telling them to get out of the town, and he was content to leave it at that.

Zidane wasn't sure what exactly transpired, but he crossed his arms and muttered, "It's kinda sad, really…"

Squall didn't look at them, shrugging at the still swinging doors. "Friend or foe… it all comes down to circumstance. That's how we were raised. It's… nothing special."

The way he spoke made Zidane look at him, worry plain on the thief's face. Squall sounded… confused, conflicted, and Zell even made a face at the tone. Zidane walked to Squall, about to place a hand on his arm when the mercenary muttered for them to go, quickly leaving the hotel and getting out of Zidane's reach. He wasn't sure if that was purposeful or not, but Zidane still felt a little hurt over it. Damn these memories.

Circumstance, huh? For some reason, Zidane thought of his brother, Kuja. He sighed heavily, and Zell came up to him.

"Not our best show," Zell said. "But… this is sort of the thing we do at Garden. Whether or not he 'passes' you, you can still say no."

Of all the things to bring up, Zell talks about that? Zidane wanted to say something, ask why he didn't seem bothered by the fact two people they apparently knew just sided with the enemy, but he stopped himself and thought over what Squall said. It was how they were raised. Zell… and the others, they just went with it, didn't find anything particularly 'wrong' and went about their business. Children raised to be mercenaries.

What a world…

Squall was immediately made unavailable once Garden was radioed in (actually, the group went to Zell's house and used the phone, which still amazed Zidane, because what the hell was a 'phone' anyway?), going to the bridge to do his commander thing after changing out of his torn shirt, leaving Zidane to entertain himself. Selphie had gone up there to request they go to some other Garden place (for some reason, Zidane only thought 'vegetable' when he thought 'Garden,' and that in turn just made him hungry) and everyone was scattered. He wasn't sure what to do, as Squall didn't say if he 'passed' or not—Zidane thought it was a good move to eliminated the possible element of surprise, and he was the only sneaky one to do it.

He did not want to be kicked out. Fighting with Squall was… right, as much as Zidane berated himself for such thoughts. When Squall had assumed that protective stance over him, was sure to heal him… that hand on his head, Zidane had to fight the blush rising to his cheeks as he helplessly recalled all of their adventures in the war-world, in and out of battle. He was still hopelessly in love, and he couldn't help but like it when Squall touched him of his own accord.

Caught up in his thoughts, Zidane didn't notice Rinoa until he barreled into her. She kept on her feet well enough, only pushed a few steps forward as Zidane rocked precariously on his heels until he righted himself. Rinoa whirled around, hand coming up to her mouth until she realized who it was, and she relaxed with a giggle.

"Distracted, Zidane?" she teased. Her eyes ran over him, although Zidane was used to being checked out and thought nothing of it.

Zidane waved a hand in the air, trying to dispel his embarrassment. "Well, can you blame a guy for noticing just how pretty you are?"

Rinoa raised an eyebrow playfully. "You ran into my back."

Zidane's grin was only half-fake. "You're pretty front and back."

"Oh, stop it!" she lightly smacked the top of his head, fluffing his hair a bit. "Where are you headed?"

"That place…" Zidane couldn't remember the name of it. "Kitchen, eating, public place."

"Cafeteria," Rinoa brightly reminded him. "Where do you come from that doesn't have a cafeteria or an establishment like it?"

Woo boy. "If I knew, I wouldn't have memory loss," he grinned, turning her focus elsewhere with a, "But hm, pretty and smart. I like it."

Rinoa blushed lightly, inviting herself to walk with him. She chattered about this and that, a place named Timber and something about owls and trains, but Zidane really wasn't listening. He liked Rinoa… or, he wanted to really like her. But since learning of her possible relationship with Squall…

Well, were they dating? Zidane burned to ask the question, but was it appropriate? What if she realized the reason? Women, Zidane knew, had a scary ability to detect when a guy has ulterior motives, and from what he recalled of his time with Squall in the war-world, people here did not like men taking solace with other men. Given the military background of everyone, and his status as a leader, Zidane did not want to sully Squall's name with rumors. He knew, somewhere and somehow, how quick misunderstandings formed and spread.

But damn it all! "Hey, Rinoa…" she stopped talking, and Zidane couldn't back out now. "I know it ain't my business, but I don't wanna cause problems just in case, so… are you and Squall… ya know." Oh, damn that phrase, Raijin abused it way too much!

Rinoa blushed heavily and she shyly pushed some of her hair behind her ear, the other arm behind her back. She looked perfect for the shy-teenager-in-love role right then, eyes even diverted to the floor. "N-no…" she muttered. "He… he hasn't seemed to notice me like that."

Zidane fought the grin. No, really, he did. "You like him?"

"Ohhh, how embarrassing," Rinoa couldn't look at Zidane, turning her back to him. Zidane let the grin break across his face. "I can't help it, of course I do. He's so strong, and handsome, and deep down I know he really cares about everyone. He just has problems expressing it!"

This sounded a lot like a drama, and Zidane wondered if she was serious about such cliché qualities, not that she was wrong. "Well, you're a pretty thing yourself; he'll notice eventually I'm sure."

"I hope so…" Rinoa looked back at him and Zidane managed to kill his grin. "I know that… well, Quistis likes him…"

Quistis… the blond woman; Zidane nonchalantly played the womanizer card, "Hm, she's pretty hot too."

"Zidane!" Rinoa protested.

"Hey, I'm a free man, I can look," Zidane figured this was a pretty appropriate time to let himself grin again. Damn, he just couldn't help it! He really did feel bad about it… really. "But it'll come down to personality, I think. Squall seems to shrug her off a lot, but he seems to pay attention to you."

She looked elated and embarrassed. "R-really?"

Wow, I'm a heartless bastard. I gotta quit. "For sure, but hey, if not, I said I was a free man…"

Rinoa let out another protest of his name and briskly walked into the cafeteria. Zidane watched her go, and now having lost his appetite and unwanted company, turned on his heel and went for the bridge. He wasn't ever explicitly told not to go there…

He didn't make it, running into Squall along with Selphie and Quistis. Across the walkway as Zidane approached, his eyes met Squall's, and it was so cliché but is still felt as if time slowed when Squall noticed him, looked in his direction. The commander muttered something to the women and left them, going toward Zidane with a purpose. The thief couldn't resist fantasizing a little, of Squall sweeping him off his feet and carrying him off—damn, he hung around the girls way too much.

Squall looked over Zidane, and just then, the blond realized his clothes were still sliced by the battle with Fujin. No wonder Rinoa was giving him that look… Suddenly self-conscious, Zidane crossed his arms over his partially exposed chest, and Squall actually… smiled? Sort of?

"We'll get you something and repair those," He said, "But we're taking off and going to the mountains. Because of your quick thinking and excellent combat skill, I'll keep you in Garden. Not quite a SeeD, but I'll induct you in as a student, this'll give you access to the rest of Garden and we'll process getting you your own dorm."

Zidane wanted to protest that last bit—although how does one do that without being obvious? "Oh, but I like sleeping with you. Er. In your room. Er" or something—but he just nodded. At least he could stay.

"What's in the mountains?" Zidane asked.

"Trabia Garden, Selphie's initial school." Squall glanced over his shoulder at Selphie, who was walking off with Quistis. "It was destroyed by the sorceress… but she wants to go check on it."

Zidane frowned and he felt his heart go out to Selphie. He didn't have a home, but to witness it be destroyed… damn. "You could barely tell, she's such a bright girl…"

"I guess." Squall looked awkward at such a conversation, but then he shrugged it off. "I'm going to my room."

"Is that a signal for me?"

Squall gave him an odd look, and Zidane quickly had to cover it up, "Uh, you know, I can't get past the doors without you…"

Squall had that 'oh' sort of look, but said nothing else. "Unless you want to sit around, no."

Zidane was tempted to see what Squall said if he insisted on going, but he wasn't here to stir old flames, as much as he so badly wanted to. "Guess I'll just have Nida call you."

"No thanks," Squall grunted, and with that, he went for the dorms, leaving Zidane in the hallway by himself.

Zidane was getting tired of watching Squall walk away from him, especially the dull ache in his heart it produced.

It was going to take about a week of constant sailing to get to Trabia Garden, going across the sea to the Trabia continent and through the mountains. Possibly longer, given Nida was not versed in driving the Garden through mountains and the fact he had yet to ever been dispatched to the Trabia area of the world. Selphie would end up spending her days with him helping navigate once they reach land, and Zidane was fairly sure Irvine would follow her like a puppy. The guy was so obvious, it made Zidane feel better about himself.

Zidane got himself a SeeD uniform while his clothes were patched up, although the jacket was too restrictive, so he oft went without it. Since he wasn't really a SeeD, he didn't seem to get pinged for 'ruining' his uniform, the only thing really bothersome about the clothes were the lack of hole for his tail and how often girls stared and oogled. Well, that last one wasn't so bad, but since Zidane had eyes for someone else, it could be bad.

They haven't had much time and effort in finding Zidane his own dorm, so he was rather gleeful at the prospect of staying in Squall's. At least, until the second day on the way to Trabia…

Zidane had opted to stay in the dorm with Squall for the afternoon, idly watching this 'TV' thing he had in his living room while Squall did whatever in his bedroom. They off and on talked about the war-world, mainly Squall asking the same questions to make sure Zidane wasn't lying. Since the thief only lied about their 'bond' he was safe thus far. But it seemed Squall was getting used, maybe comfortable, in Zidane's presence—he even walked out of the bedroom in just a pair of loose trousers and a towel on his head. Zidane politely didn't stare for too long.

"Seamstress called," Squall said as he toweled his hair dry. "She bitched about your clothes."

"What about them?" Zidane asked, affronted.

"Said they were too outlandish and she wanted to make changes. I think I was in the right in saying no."

"Thank Cosmos," Zidane muttered.

Something else was going to be said, except the door decided just then to open. Both men turned startled eyes to it, and Rinoa herself looked shock to see Zidane present. Squall immediately went back to his bedroom, locking the door behind him, and Zidane had half the mind to glare her out of the dorm. How the hell did she get access to come and go?

"Bad time?" Rinoa asked after a few seconds of tense silence.

Zidane bit his tongue, carefully thinking of something else to say. "Nah, just chatting."

Squall came back out in his usual clothes, shrugging on his jacket. "What is it, Rinoa?"

The girl in blue smiled brightly at him, making Zidane feel a bit sick at just how pretty she was with a smile. "I was just wondering if you'd like to take a walk around Garden."

"I already showed you—"

"That was a guided tour! This time, it's just a walk… you know, just to spend time together."

At this Zidane really had to bit his tongue, and it took all of his willpower to go back to pretending to watch TV. Squall contemplated the request, even as Rinoa gave him her best pleading eyes, and he chanced a look at Zidane.

Rinoa didn't want to include him, but if it got Squall out of his room, she would. "He can come too, if he wants." Bright smile.

Zidane forced his own smile. "Nah, you two lovebirds go ahead." At this, Rinoa gaped at him in horror, and Squall quirked an eyebrow.

Squall turned back to Rinoa. "Maybe tomorrow. I have a headache."

Zidane wanted to half hoot and half groan—how could someone like Squall use such a woman's excuse? Rinoa frowned a bit, but she lightly touched Squall's shoulder.

"Want me to ask Dr. Kadowaki for something?" she asked, concern on her face. She was playing it up.

"I'll live."

Rinoa looked put off from his words, and Zidane got up from the couch and went to her, patting her arm and smiling. "Don't worry," Zidane assured. "If it gets bad I'll get it for him."

Rinoa just nodded and turned, blue sweater thing fluttering behind her with that air of womanly grace. She sauntered out, and when the door closed Zidane glanced up at Squall.

"How does she get in and out of here like that?" he asked.

Squall frowned a bit. "Someone figured it'd be funny to give her my spare card key. She's abused it since, and I haven't managed to get it from her."

Zidane broke out into a smile and held up his hand, a card between his fingers. "Thiiiiis?"

Squall stared at it, knowing immediately it was his spare. How, or even why, he wasn't sure, but even Squall let himself smile the tiniest bit. "Well, since you're stuck here, you might as well keep it."

Score for the thief! Zidane tucked the card into his pocket, and Squall wondered why he seemed so happy.

It was going to be a strange week.

Author's Note: Okay, so maybe this chapter wasn't all action, but I wanna be somewhat realistic in terms of battle and travel time between places, but I don't wanna bog down the story with uneventful day-to-day interactions that don't impact the story much, so if the pace doesn't seem right, I'm sorry lol I was also at a loss of how exactly to describe junctioning/drawing. I looked it up and I felt a little more confused than before I did lol I hope I did a decent job on that. Chapter 4 is gonna be a lot of dialogue (for reasons obvious lol) but hopefully after that we get to the real fun stuff... the best part of FF8, mwahaha. And of course, more Squall/Zidane moments.

Anyone else think Zidane would be adorable/hot (hair down/tied respectfully) in a SeeD uniform? =3