Chapter 33

Get Along

(Zell)

Zell, Ami, and Quistis stood on the charred ruins of Trabia Garden, surrounded by the amicable faces of what remained of T-Garden's student body. After Tomomi's revelation that she was a sorceress, Zell suddenly found himself without words. The last time he had been within arm's reach of a sorceress, it had been Ciel. Although he had no reason to distrust Tomomi, the memory of the Timber TV Station was still fresh in his mind, making him wary.

(I hope Tomomi's nothing like Ciel.)

Zell gulped.

But Quistis was thinking of other things at the time. After a moment of consideration, she turned to face Tomomi.

"We don't have much time," Quistis said, speaking quietly. "So I'll be brief. Can you trust the students here to keep your secret? About you being a sorceress?"

Tomomi shrugged. "Well, yeah. I guess. We're pretty much like family here, so no one's going to go blabbing."

She glanced around at the other students, who all gave her encouraging nods and other signs of support.

Quistis nodded. "That's good. To be on the safe side, if anyone other than the three of us asks you, say that you're the leader of T-Garden, but say nothing of you being a sorceress."

"Alright," Tomomi said. "But… is it really that bad here? Because Selphie used to talk about your friend Rinoa, and she's a sorceress too right?"

"Best to not mention Rinoa either," Quistis said, grimacing. "Now we must hurry. We can't linger here long. Galbadia is going to be looking for us, and we need to get moving."

Tomomi nodded. "Right. What can we do to help?"

"We need to work together to find a way to move Garden and get us out of the area," Quistis said. "In the meantime, do you mind coming aboard with us? I feel there's much we need to discuss and this is not the place for it."

"Sure," Tomomi said.

Quistis turned to Ami. "When we get back onboard Garden, I need you to run and tell Nida about the situation. Have him give a report to the students over the intercom. Don't tell Nida about Tomomi just yet, okay?"

(What? Doesn't she trust Nida?)

Ami nodded without hesitation. "Yes, Commander."

Zell pointed to himself. "Uh, should I go along with her?"

Quistis shook her head. "No. I want you to stay with me for now."

(… Why?)

He was about to form the question aloud when Quistis moved away from him and headed for the rope that hung down from Garden's second floor balcony to Trabia Garden. Zell swallowed the question, shrugged to himself, and climbed up the rope after her. Behind him came Ami. Tomomi lingered a few moments to say some brief goodbyes to her fellow T-Garden students, then ascended the rope last.

When he got onto the balcony, Zell saw that a small crowd of SeeDs had gathered outside, observing the situation tensely with their weapons ready, but not drawn. For a moment, Zell was afraid that they had been listening in to the whole conversation, but then he realized that he could barely hear the students down on T-Garden over the ambient sounds of the sea, except when they shouted.

(Quistis and Tomomi were practically whispering, so I don't think anyone heard.)

Quistis gave the SeeDs a calm wave of her hand to signal that there was no danger. She then gestured for Ami to go ahead to the bridge. Ami cut through the group, whispering embarrassed apologies, and disappeared through the back door. Zell watched her go, wishing he could follow her. He hated standing in front of the group of SeeDs, with all of them looking at him. It reminded him of the school assembly and the argument between Mireya and Quistis.

(And me opening my big, fat mouth.)

Zell felt heat brush across his face as he vividly recalled the memory, and his embarrassment as well. He shook his head to clear the thought away. When he looked at the group again he saw, in front of the others, Mireya standing with her sword strapped to her waist and her black hair tied up in a knot, ready for combat.

(Of course she's here.)

(She's friggin everywhere.)

Although Quistis had signaled that there was no danger from the Trabians, Mireya looked wary. She glanced at Quistis, then at Tomomi. Her eyes narrowed.

"I assume that's Trabia Garden down there?" Mireya asked.

"It is," Quistis said. "Everyone, let me introduce Tomomi, the leader of T-Garden." She gestured towards Tomomi.

Tomomi smiled and waved, her poses very similar to Selphie's. "Hi everyone!" she said.

The assembled SeeDs muttered polite, but emotionless greetings. Zell grew a little angry at the group. Trabia Garden was a guest of SeeD's, and the students were treating Tomomi like she was carrying a disease.

(They could at least try to be friendly.)

He surveyed the group and was struck with the sudden realization that all the students on the balcony were like Mireya. It was more than just the fact that they were standing next to her in a tight cluster. It was the way they stood unified, the way they stole glances at Mireya—as if waiting for her next order—and the way they remained on guard even after Quistis gave the all-clear. These SeeDs were on Mireya's side, not Quistis'. He had no doubt that every SeeD among them had voted against Rinoa in the assembly.

(Man, things used to be a lot simpler around here.)

Zell felt like saying something, but instead he clenched his jaw and remained quiet.

Quistis moved quickly. She approached Mireya and said, "Trabia Garden has graciously agreed to help get Garden back in motion."

"They have mechanics that can fix Garden?" Mireya asked doubtfully.

"No, but I think T-Garden has enough power to tow us," Quistis said. "I want you to oversee the project. Use whatever tools you need to attach our Garden to theirs. Or, if towing doesn't work, then see if Trabia can push us. Whatever you have to do to get us moving out of the immediate area. Can you do that?"

Mireya looked displeased. For a moment, Zell thought she would disobey or attempt to argue. He could almost see her mind spinning behind her eyes, but finally she said, "Yes, Commander. It will be done."

"Good," Quistis said. "I'll leave you to it. In the meantime, she and I have much to discuss. You too, Zell."

Quistis led Tomomi and Zell towards the back of the balcony. The group of SeeDs initially seemed reluctant to step aside and clear a path for their Commander, but when Mireya moved aside, so did all the others. As Zell moved through the cluster, he saw Dax's tall, muscular body standing amongst the others. Zell pretended he hadn't seen him and kept walking. As long as Dax was with Mireya, then Zell didn't want anything to do with him.

(I bet he voted against Rinoa too…)

Mireya spun around and began pointing at members of her team. "Organize into groups of three. We need rope, chains, and sheet metal. I'll be leading a group that will—"

And then Zell closed the door to the balcony shut behind him and he could her hear voice no more.

The three headed down the hallway towards the elevator. A few dozen SeeDs and cadets had wandered up to the classrooms to gawk at T-Garden. Quistis ignored them and proceeded straight ahead. Tomomi waved and smiled at everyone she passed, like she was a famous actress being greeted by her fans. She seemed endlessly cheerful, but slightly less hyper than Selphie could be.

(I can tell why she and Selphie are friends.)

"Do we… uh… trust Mireya to handle this job?" Zell asked warily, trying to make sure that no one in the hall could hear him.

"Better to have her out there working than in here causing mischief," Quistis said. "And also, despite our differences, I do recognize Mireya's talents. I'm sure she can complete her mission and get us moving again."

"Speakin' of handlin' jobs," Zell said. "What am I supposed to do?"

While he was definitely glad to be part of the action, he still wanted to know what his role was. With all the uncertainty in Garden, he liked knowing his mission, knowing his place. Also, he wanted to know why Quistis had separated him and Ami. Despite himself, he couldn't help but feel a little nervous around Tomomi, and he found himself wishing he was on the bridge with Nida and Ami, rather than in the halls with Quistis and Tomomi.

(She could blast my head off with a thought.)

"You're here in case I need a runner," Quistis said. "I can't very well leave Tomomi alone if I need to get something, nor can I drag her all around Garden with me either. So you're my assistant for now."

"Oh…" Zell said. He slumped his shoulders as he walked.

(I thought I was more important…)

Quistis led the two into the elevator and pushed the button for the first floor. Tomomi leaned forward and pressed her face and her hands against the glass door of the elevator, staring out into the central hall of Garden as they descended.

"Whooooaaa…" she said in awe. "Balamb Garden is HUGE!"

"It's around two times the size of Trabia Garden, yes," Quistis said. Her voice was calm and formal, but Zell saw a glint in her eye that showed that she was proud to brag about her school.

"And you're the Commander?" Tomomi said to Quistis. "Crazy!"

Quistis laughed once. "Yes, it is a little overwhelming at times."

"You sure our Garden can tow you guys?" Tomomi asked.

"We'll see…" Quistis said.

The elevator arrived at the first floor with a chime, and the three stepped out. Tomomi dashed ahead and down the steps, then she stopped and spun around, oblivious of the stares and whispers that she was receiving from the passing students.

She gazed up at the ceiling for a few seconds, examining the ornate detail of the architecture, and her good mood slowly declined into a melancholy. Her smile faded to a grin, then vanished entirely. She looked at Quistis somberly.

"Sorry," Tomomi said. "It's just that… Trabia's been nothing but rubble and wreckage for the past month now. It's nice to see Balamb Garden looking so… whole. It reminds me of the way our Garden used to be. Warm and bright all the time."

"Quite understandable," Quistis said. "I'm sorry about what happened."

"Must be a real bummer about your school," Zell said. He scratched the back of his head awkwardly. He definitely felt bad for Tomomi and the other students, but he had no idea how to express it without sounding dumb.

"Yeah," Tomomi said softly. "But we'll fix it up so that our Garden looks this way again too. Anyway, where are we going? Gotta admit, I'm lost already."

"My office," Quistis said. She motioned with her hand and began walking around the central elevator to the opposite side of the school. "Come along."

"You got your own office? Nice!" Tomomi said, striding alongside Quistis and Zell. As she walked, she pointed down the first hallway on the left. "Oh! What's down there?"

"The infirmary," Quistis said.

"And over there?" Tomomi asked, pointing to the next hall.

"The quad," Quistis said. "After that is the cafeteria, then the dorms—which is where we're heading."

"Awesome," Tomomi said.

The three proceeded around the circular walkway towards the far end of the school, to the hallway with the gray stripe down the middle, leading to the school dorms. Quistis brought the group down the hall, then turned to her office. Her door was closed as usual, with her name on a plaque on her door. Squall's office was beside hers, closed and locked.

(Wonder when he's comin' back.)

"You got your name on the door and everything," Tomomi said as Quistis opened the door. The three piled inside the small room and Quistis shut the door behind them. She walked around her wide wooden desk and had a seat in her chair. There were two small folding chairs tucked to the side, and Zell and Tomomi each took one and sat down.

"Before we start, is there anything you want?" Quistis asked. "A drink, perhaps?"

"Do you have any water?" Tomomi asked.

"Indeed," Quistis said. "Zell, can you fetch her a glass of water?"

"Sure," Zell said.

(I am the assistant, after all.)

He hopped out of his chair and exited into the hallway.

Quistis' office had once been a small guest dorm that did not contain any plumbing of its own. But all the SeeD dorms had small kitchenettes in them, so fetching a glass of water only required Zell to go to his dorm and fill a glass from his own tap. As he watched the glass fill, he thought about the machinery buried in the MD levels that converted the salty ocean water into something drinkable. It was obvious that Garden was built for long journeys at sea.

He rushed back to Quistis' office and set the sweating glass down on the table in front of Tomomi. She took a sip, then closed her eyes in obvious pleasure.

(Never seen someone so happy about tap water before.)

"Is it… uh… good?" Zell asked.

"It doesn't taste like boiled river water," Tomomi said. "So yeah, it's pretty nice."

"Cool," Zell said. He sat down in his chair, feeling slightly depressed about Trabia Garden's current state.

(It musta been hard living out there.)

"I'd like to hear what's been going on in Trabia," Quistis said. "We sent Irvine and Selphie up as ambassadors between our two Gardens, but we haven't heard from them since. Did they arrive safely?"

Tomomi took another long drink from her glass and nodded. "Oh yeah, they came. They helped us rebuild and whatnot. They were trying to find our school's HD Cables, but there was no luck on that front."

"And then what happened to them?" Quistis asked.

"G-Garden came along," Tomomi said. "They said that Rinoa was in Timber, and Irvine and Selphie left to go help her. The Galbadians made it sound like Rinoa was in some kind of trouble."

(G-Garden? Rinoa?)

"Whoa, wait," Zell said. "Irvine and Selphie just up and left? With Galbadia?"

(That doesn't make sense.)

"Yup," Tomomi said. "Irvine said he trusted this Martine guy, and it seemed like Rinoa really needed help, so they thought it was a good idea at the time. I thought so too, so I told Selphie to go and help her friend… Was that wrong? Should I have not done that?"

Tomomi sipped from her glass again. Zell noticed it was already almost empty. Quistis tented her fingers and sighed. "This is why I had misgivings about sending them off on their own. They should have stayed here at Garden. They've always been rash and foolish."

Tomomi set down her glass and looked offended. "Hey, they were really helpful. Selphie was cheerful and Irvine was cool, and they did a lot of good work. It was nice knowing that we weren't alone in the world. That Balamb Garden had our back. So you shouldn't regret that you sent them."

"I apologize," Quistis said. "What happened after they left?"

"Not much for a while," Tomomi said. "Life went back to normal. It was depressing without Selphie around, but we managed. Then one day I was clearing out some rubble near the edge of the school when this weird woman teleported in. Like, FLASH, suddenly she was there. She had weird clothes and like, odd cream-colored skin. Before I knew what was going on, she touched my arm and, well, I was a sorceress after that."

"I see," Quistis said. She exchanged a glance with Zell. "Just like what happened in the cafeteria."

"And like with Ciel in Timber too," Zell said. "She said that she got her powers basically the same way."

"Oh really? There's others?" Tomomi asked, wide-eyed.

"Yup! Tons," Zell said. "Well, not tons, but lots. More than we'd like, I guess. Two, actually. That we know of… Not including you. Er…"

(… I should just keep quiet.)

He scratched his neck and cleared his throat.

"Why Balamb, Trabia, and Timber?" Quistis said, partly to herself. "There must be a pattern. I don't believe that this is all random chance."

"I dunno," Tomomi said. "But that turned out pretty good for us, once I became a sorceress. Turns out, I'm like, really good at fixing stuff now. Like, I can do all different kinds of magic and stuff, but fixing things is practically second nature to me. It's the easiest thing for me to do. I barely even have to try. Want me to show you?"

(Wait… can she fix our Garden too?)

"No need," Quistis said. "Go on with your story. How'd you get Trabia moving again?"

"My powers," Tomomi said. "Irvine had already excavated a path down to our Garden's MD Levels, but we had to stop because the elevator shaft was caved in. Well, I just went down there and used my powers to seal the breaks, and then used some other magic and some tools to dig out all the dirt that had filled in the shaft. Once we got a certain way down, there wasn't any damage to the Garden at all. I guess it was too deep below the surface to be hit by the missiles. Me and some others wandered around until we found the controls, we pushed a few buttons, and Trabia Garden came to life! It was scary, but cool too."

"And then what happened?" Quistis asked.

"We decided to go find supplies," Tomomi said. "My powers are pretty cool, but I can't make something out of nothing. Believe me, I tried. I can't make T-Garden exactly like it was because too much of it is gone. If I had all the pieces again, maybe I could put it back together, but everything's been blown to smithereens and I have no idea where to even start. So we cleaned off our Garden as best we could and went looking for supplies."

"Wait a minute," Zell said. "How do you pilot that thing without a bridge?"

"A bridge?" Tomomi said. "Oh, like a control center. Well, the controls were all underground, so they're still intact. When we reactivated our Garden, the controls rose up to the top so that we could steer. The controls are ancient and don't make any sense, so it took us forever to figure out how to steer, but we've got the hang of it now"

"Oh cool," Zell said. "Same thing happened with our Garden too."

(And we almost crashed into Balamb when Garden went mobile.)

"And do you know why is Galbadia camping out in Trabia, waiting for you?" Quistis asked.

"They are?" Tomomi said, surprised. "Oh, man."

"You mean you didn't know?" Zell asked.

"Well, we knew they were looking for us," Tomomi said. "We ran into a Galbadian sea patrol a while back, but we fought them off with magic and then gave them the slip by running back onto land where they couldn't follow us. We circled around and hid in the mountains. When we figured the coast was clear, we went back out to sea. And then we found you. We didn't know that they had sent soldiers to our old stomping grounds."

"It's probably because you fought back using magic," Quistis said. "The patrol must have alerted the main force, and they sent missiles and snipers to wait for you in case you came back."

"And then they found us instead," Zell said.

(That explains a lot.)

(The sniper would take out any potential sorceresses without having to get right up and fight.)

"I see…" Tomomi said. "Sorry about that."

"It's not your fault," Quistis said. "More importantly, you said you used your magic to fix your school. Do you think you could do the same with ours?"

Tomomi winced. "Eh, depends. The MD levels of T-Garden weren't badly damaged, so it was really easy for me to fix them. If Balamb Garden's as bad as you say it is, it might be beyond my help. I'm still new to my powers, so I don't wanna overpromise and under-deliver, you know?"

Quistis looked like she was about to say something, and then she stopped. She pressed her fist to her chin and stared down at her desk, mulling something over.

(She's lookin' like Squall.)

"Uh… Quistis?" Zell asked. "You alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine," Quistis said. "It's just… I'm trying to predict the future. Playing politics, as it were."

(Politics?)

"I don't get what ya mean," Zell said. "What politics?"

Quistis broke out of her trance and looked at him. "The logical thing to do, of course—and the first idea I had—was to bring Tomomi down to the MD levels and have her at least try to work something out. But, given the current mood around Garden concerning sorceresses, it may not be so simple as that."

"Eh?" Zell said.

"Suppose I bring a relative stranger on board Garden," Quistis said, "Take her down to the MD Levels, and suddenly the Garden is fixed? After our tech team and all our best people said it was impossible. People—Mireya especially—will suspect a sorceress was involved, and I don't want to toss any fuel on that particular fire."

"Oh… I gotcha," Zell said. He twitched. "Wait. Does this mean you aren't gonna have her try to fix Garden?"

"I believe I've worked out a plan," Quistis said. "Like I said, I'm playing politics, so it seems I can't do anything in a straightforward manner anymore. But don't worry, Zell. I have an idea that might work."

"Ah," Zell said.

It didn't matter to him, whether or not Quistis explained her plan to him. Even if she did, Zell doubted that he'd understand all the nuances of it, especially since she just said she was playing politics. Zell didn't understand politics, and he was content to be left in the dark concerning her plan. As long as she looked confident—and she did—and said it was under control, Zell was happy.

(Let other people do the heavy brain work.)

"In the meantime," Quistis said. "Your power for fixing things… does it work on people as well?"

"Yeah," Tomomi said chirpily. "I healed a bunch of our injured students on our Garden after I got my powers. I dunno if it's connected with my ability to fix stuff or if it's just a regular sorceress thing, but I can do it. Why? You have injured people on board?"

"Yes," Quistis said. "Specifically a head injury."

"Oh, hey, you're talking about Xu?" Zell asked. Quistis nodded.

"I can try," Tomomi said.

"Please," Quistis said. "If you would, I'd be very grateful."

"When? Like, right now?"

"If you can."

"Then let's go!" Tomomi said. "Lead on, Commander!"

The three stood up from their chairs and departed Quistis' office. She shut the door behind them. Tomomi stood off to the side, waiting for either Quistis or Zell to show her the way, since she clearly had no idea where she was going. Quistis stepped ahead and brought them out of the dorms.

They walked through the central area of Garden with Tomomi constantly craning her neck in all directions, staring at the high ceiling of the massive central area. Zell couldn't remember the last time he had seen someone so openly in awe of Garden. Sometimes the very youngest students would be impressed the first time they came to the school, but usually teenagers tried to hide their amazement. Not so with Tomomi.

(Wonder if Selphie was like this when she first came to Garden.)

They proceeded down the hall with the faded pink stripe down the middle and through a sliding door into the infirmary. As usual, Dr. Kadowaki sat behind her desk, ready to accept new patients. She smiled and nodded when the three entered.

"Ah, Quistis," Dr. Kadowaki said. She nodded at Tomomi. "And who is this?"

"This is Tomomi," Quistis said. "She's with Trabia Garden."

"Oh, is that what all the fuss is about?" Dr. Kadowaki said. "Honestly, I'm always the last person to know what's going on. It's a pleasure to meet you, Tomomi. I hope you're not here because you're injured."

"No, I'm good, thanks," Tomomi said, smiling.

"Dr. Kadowaki," Quistis said. "Are we alone here in the infirmary?"

"Yes, I discharged my last patient a few hours ago," Dr. Kadowaki said. "Well, Xu is still here of course."

"And you're sure there's no one else?" Quistis asked. She pulled aside a curtain to a patient room, checking to see if anyone was hiding back there. Dr. Kadowaki narrowed her eyes.

"Yes, I'm quite sure," Dr. Kadowaki said. "Why? Is there something I should know?"

Quistis released the curtain and sighed. "Perhaps… you're best off not knowing. If you truly want to remain neutral in school politics."

"There's a difference between ignorance and neutrality, Commander," Dr. Kadowaki said sternly. "I am neutral as far as politics and petty disputes go, but I dislike being ignorant of the facts. So is there something I should know?"

Quistis hesitated for a moment, then proceeded to manually check every patient room in the infirmary—a process that only took a few seconds, since there were only a handful of rooms—before she turned back to Dr. Kadowaki and said—with one eye on the front door, "Tomomi is a sorceress. I think she can help cure Xu."

Dr. Kadowaki's eyebrows went up. "Well if she can, then what are we waiting for? Go, go!"

The doctor rose and shooed Tomomi, Quistis, and Zell towards Xu's room, which was at the far end of the infirmary. The patient room was little more than a single-person bed with a narrow aisle on either side, just wide enough for a visitor to walk within. Tomomi went in first and stood beside Xu's head. Zell went on the opposite side across from her, and Quistis came in last waited at the foot of the bed behind Zell. Dr. Kadowaki watched the proceedings from outside the room, looking in.

Quistis said to Dr. Kadowaki, "Warn us if anyone comes in, alright?"

"You'll probably hear them enter before I can warn you," Dr. Kadowaki said. "But alright."

Zell turned to Quistis and crossed his arms.

(Checkin' all the patient rooms…)

(Havin' Dr. K watch the door like we're about to sell illegal firearms.)

"Man, Quistis, you're really paranoid these days," he said.

She shot him a glance. "I prefer to say I'm cautious," she said. "And I'm only cautious because circumstances force me to be. Now, Tomomi, whenever you're ready, you may start."

Tomomi shuffled to the head of the bed and glanced down at Xu's sleeping form. A thin white blanket was pulled up to Xu's chin. Xu's eyes were closed, and her face was relaxed with deep sleep. Tomomi nodded to herself and set to work. She bent forward and laid both her hands gently atop Xu, one hand on Xu's forehead and the other on Xu's stomach. She closed her eyes and concentrated.

There were no visible signs that magic was being used, but Zell detected a changed atmosphere in the room. It wasn't the tingling electricity that followed Ciel everywhere, and it wasn't the crushing violence of Adel's aura, but something much calmer. It was as if a cool, comforting breeze was blowing on his skin. He checked the window, but it was firmly closed.

(Come to think of it, Tomomi doesn't really have an aura.)

During his time in Timber with Forest Wolf, Zell had been constantly aware of Ciel's presence. She exerted a force upon the universe, as if her very being was pressing against the world around her. But Zell never felt that way around Rinoa or Tomomi. He briefly wondered what the difference was, then decided that the answer was probably beyond his ability to understand. He shrugged and watched Tomomi work in silence.

Quistis stood watching, her hands before her chest, clenching and unclenching. She appeared to be whispering something, but Zell couldn't hear any words escaping her lips. Zell looked back at Xu. She slept on, oblivious to it all.

"Is it working?" Zell asked.

Quistis shushed him, but Tomomi didn't seem to mind his interruption. "Give it a sec," she said.

After another few seconds, Tomomi opened her eyes and removed her hands from Xu's body.

"I've done all I can," she said. "I've never worked with a comatose person before, but I think I fixed her. I guess we'll find out soon enough."

Before anyone could say anything else, Xu's eyelids fluttered.

(She's waking up!)

"No way!" Zell said, astonished.

Quistis jumped forward, her hip bumping into Zell and nearly knocking him over. He pressed up against the wall as Quistis hurriedly pushed her way past him. She put both hands on the mattress and bent over Xu's face.

"Xu? Can you hear me?" Quistis said. "Xu?"

"Give her a moment to recover," Dr. Kadowaki said firmly, but it was clear that she was excited as well. "Let her have some space, Quistis."

Xu's eyelids continued to flutter and then finally, her eyes opened groggily. She stared around the room sightlessly for a few seconds, then focused on Quistis' face. Her eyebrows furrowed.

"Q?" Xu said in a scratchy whisper. "What're you doing here?"

Quistis burst out laughing and leaned forward to grip Xu's shoulders in a tight embrace. Xu looked confused and alarmed. "Welcome back," Quistis said.

Xu's eyes flashed with sudden panic. She fought against Quistis' hug and pushed down on the mattress, fighting to get up.

"Wait! The sorceress! I have to—" Xu said, wriggling from side to side.

Quistis held her down on the bed. "No, no, it's all right. Don't worry. You're all right."

"The sorceress!" Xu said frantically. "She's crazy!" She saw Zell at the end of her bed. "Zell! You and Dax get out of here! I'll…"

Xu paused, then settled down and looked around. Her eyes began to focus more. "Wait…" she said. "Where am I?"

"You're in the school's infirmary," Dr. Kadowaki said. "You took a nasty blow to the head and have been unconscious for quite some time now."

Xu flopped back onto her pillow, no longer fighting against Quistis and stared up at the ceiling. She exhaled long and slowly, allowing her tension to flow out of her body. "What? H-how long?"

"Almost a week now," Quistis said. She released Xu and straightened up. "We've been so worried."

"A week?" Xu said. She struggled to get back up. "I need to—"

Quistis caught her by the shoulders again and gently pushed her down. "You need to recover. You were very nearly dead, you know."

Xu continued to twist under Quistis' grip, but she was weakened by her long convalescence and couldn't make much of a battle out of it. "Well, I'm not dead now, so let me go, Q! I feel fine, really!"

Dr. Kadowaki stepped forward. Tomomi pushed against the wall and slid back to allow the doctor access to her patient. "I'd like to examine you now, if you don't mind," the doctor said.

"I feel fine," Xu said. She stopped struggling. "Really, I do."

"I'll be the judge of that," Dr. Kadowaki said. "It doesn't matter how good you feel now, there's no way you're leaving this bed today. Maybe not tomorrow either."

"What?" Xu said.

"No arguments," Dr. Kadowaki said. She pulled a small penlight out of her pocket and clicked it on. "Now watch the light."

Dr. Kadowaki leaned forward and pushed the light close to Xu's eyes, testing the dilation of her pupils. Then she moved the light back and forth in slow, steady lines—up and down, back and forth. Xu followed easily.

"Zell, what happened?" Xu asked during the checkup. "How'd we get out of Timber?"

Zell sucked in a breath and puffed out his cheeks. "Well, that's kind of a long story."

Trying not to forget anything important, he summed up the events following Xu's injury all the way until the Contact Team returned to Garden. He didn't bother explaining anything after that, figuring that Quistis could recall recent events better than he could.

"I see," Xu said. "And who's this?" She glanced at Tomomi while Dr. Kadowaki checked Xu's pulse and blood pressure.

"I'm Tomomi," she said, waving. "I'm Selphie's friend from Trabia Garden. I'm the one who healed you."

"Oh. Thank you," Xu said.

Tomomi leaned over to Quistis and whispered too loudly, "Is it okay if she knows I'm a sorceress?"

Quistis smiled and said, "Yes, she's with us."

Xu overheard the exchange and glanced warily at Tomomi. Xu sighed.

"So… we've got another sorceress in the world then," Xu said grimly. Meanwhile, Dr. Kadowaki continued running various tests on her.

Quistis turned to Zell. "Zell, if you don't mind, could you go back to the balcony? I'm sure they could use some extra help connecting the Gardens, and I want you to make sure Mireya isn't plotting any trouble."

"Can do," Zell said cheerfully.

"And remember not to say anything about Tomomi," Quistis said. "Understand?"

Zell saluted. "I'll remember."

(Jeez… I'm not an idiot.)

He turned to leave. Behind him, he could hear Xu whisper, "Connect the Gardens? What's going on?"

"I'll explain everything," Quistis said. And then Zell stepped through the door and exited the infirmary and he could hear no more of the conversation.

He walked to the elevator, then rode it up to the second floor. All the gawkers who had gathered to stare at Trabia Garden had been drafted into service by Mireya, leaving the second floor hallway almost totally deserted. Zell hustled along in silence, checking inside the classrooms as he passed to make sure that the monsters imprisoned there weren't up to any mischief. He continued to the far end of the hall, then walked up the steps and through the door to the balcony.

Outside was a hive of activity. Students had brought in massive coils of rope of every kind harvested from all over Garden. There were thin nylon ropes that SeeD used in certain types of missions and thick brown ropes as wide around as Zell's wrist that were used for construction purposes. There were dozens of coiled chains as well, some cut from other parts of the school and brought to the balcony. Piles of sheet metal and thin rods were stacked neatly near the edges.

SeeDs and cadets and T-Garden students rushed around in organized chaos, hauling ropes and chains, welding pieces of metal together, rappelling from high areas on the side of Garden so that they could anchor long strands of rope to T-Garden, and noisily hammering pieces into place. Mireya stood in the middle of it all, calmly executing orders and ensuring that there were no idle hands at any given moment, even among the student of T-Garden.

(Don't say anything about Tomomi…)

Zell approached her cheerfully. "How's it goin' out here?"

"Could be better," Mireya said. "I don't know if we have enough materials to connect the two Gardens, so we may have to improvise. I have members of the tech team working on alternate solutions. We'll see what happens."

"What can I do to help?" Zell asked.

"Stay here for now," Mireya said. "I'll find a use for you soon. Can you weld?"

"I've done a few machining courses and stuff, yeah," Zell said.

"Good, then you'll relieve one of the welders when they go on break," Mireya said.

"Alright," Zell said with a nod. He turned away, hoping that the conversation would end there, but Mireya spoke up again before he'd taken a single step.

"Did Quistis bother to say how we were going to feed all these new people, or has she not thought that far ahead yet?" she asked, watching the students instead of looking at Zell.

"Huh? Oh, no, she didn't say anything like that," Zell said. He started to become nervous, and fidgeted with the hem of his pants.

(Don't say anything about Tomomi…)

"I see," Mireya said. "Because I've been talking to the T-Garden students, and they're barely scraping by with the supplies they have. We'll have to provide for their care if we want them to tow us anywhere, and we don't have enough food left to do it."

"Oh, really?" Zell said. "I guess that would be a problem then."

"Indeed," Mireya said.

"Well, Xu can sort it out now," Zell said. "She's the inventory person. Maybe she can crunch the numbers or something."

Mireya gave him a look. "Xu is in a coma."

"No, no, she woke up! She's fine now," Zell said, speaking quickly.

Mireya nodded. "Hmm. Convenient timing for that."

"Yeah, Tomomi healed her," Zell said.

(I said don't say anything about Tomomi!)

But his mouth had moved before his brain had a chance to stop the words from coming out. He gulped, feeling sweat form on his palms and heat rise to his face. Then, as he became aware that he was blushing and sweating and acting completely suspicious, he got even more nervous, exacerbating all his problems.

"She' a… a… really good with healing magic," Zell said. He licked his lips, but his tongue was dry.

Mireya didn't seem to react to anything he said.

(Maybe she didn't hear me?)

"I didn't know that T-Garden students studied para-magic," Mireya said. "I thought Balamb was the only Garden that junctioned."

(Damn. She heard me.)

"I uh… well," Zell said. "She's uh… it's a hobby, I guess."

"A hobby?" Mireya asked. For the first time, she turned to look at him, one eyebrow raised incredulously.

(No! A hobby? What am I talking about?)

"Well," Zell said. "Or like, you know, she might be thinking of transferring here, so she started using magic to prepare. Something like that."

He scratched himself, suddenly itchy all over.

"So you've all had quite a long chat with her, have you?" Mireya asked. She turned away from him and resumed supervising the operation. "Interesting. I'd like to have a discussion with her myself. She sounds like a very special individual."

"I… yeah, I guess," Zell said.

(Whew. She doesn't suspect a thing!)

(… I hope.)

Mireya shouted at some nearby SeeDs. "Pull those ropes tighter! They need to be as taut as you can make them or else they're useless! No extra slack!"

"Yes, ma'am," the SeeDs said, pulling the ropes even tighter.

"Anything else I should know?" Mireya asked Zell.

Zell scratched the back of his head. "I, um, well, what do you mean?"

"Anything that comes to mind," Mireya said. "Anything you would think is important."

(Don't say anything else about Tomomi!)

(Or anyone!)

(Just… stop talking!)

"Not really," Zell said. "I mean, aside from Xu waking up."

"It'll be good having Xu back," Mireya said. "She's very useful to the school."

"Yeah," Zell said.

At that time, a large, muscular SeeD wearing his dress pants and his white undershirt clambered up over the rail of the balcony, suddenly emerging into view. Zell looked at him, but didn't recognize him because he was wearing a welder's shield over his face. He flipped it up and wiped sweat off his brow with the back of one gloved hand. He began unclipping himself from a waist harness that kept him from plunging into the ocean.

(Oh, it's Dax.)

"Dax, you taking a break?" Mireya asked.

"Yeah," Dax said.

"Be back in fifteen minutes," Mireya said. She turned to Zell. "Take over his spot."

"Gotcha," Zell said. He took the face shield and the torch and gloves from Dax. They were all a little damp from Dax's sweat, but Zell didn't really care. He was just glad to get away from Mireya, and away from the chance that his big, dumb mouth would say something else that he wasn't supposed to.

(Maybe I am an idiot after all.)

He slammed down the shield over his face, as if hiding in shame, and clipped himself into Dax's empty harness.