"Booyaka!"
"What's up, Garden? Are you excited for the 5th Garden Festival?"
"As you may know, every year we add new programs and surprises to the Festival. I'm so thrilled…"
"Selphie!"
"Yeah?"
As Selphie was in the middle of posting the announcement for the next Garden Festival on the Balamb Gardeners Network from her desk, the library girl with a pigtail called her from downstairs.
"You have a package!"
"I'm in the middle of something here!"
"It says 'urgent.'"
"Huh? What does it say?"
"I don't know. But it's from Balamb Immigration Services. You should open it now."
"Coming!"
Selphie gasped as her eyes skimmed over the formal text.
An hour later, an emergency meeting was called in poor Squall's tiny dorm room. Zell arrived last because he was waiting for his hotdogs in the cafeteria. The large Griever gunblade case had to be hidden in the closet to make space for three boys to sit on the floor. The girls occupied Squall's bed with Selphie explaining the situation amidst her sobbing.
"Deported?" Quistis frowned. "How?"
"I…" Selphie stammered between hiccups. "I may have missed a few warnings about my overstay in Balamb."
Having transferred from Trabia, Selphie had been on a student visa to attend Balamb Garden. Every six months, she was required to complete paperwork to renew and extend her visa. It was also required by law that she needed to report any address changes. However, long missions away from Balamb made it nearly impossible to keep up with these tasks. In addition, given that they were riding the Ragnarok for months, going in and out of hundreds of countries, the address change form would be proportional in size. Lastly, Ultimecia's castle in the future did not exactly have a postal code.
"Don't they know who you are?" Irvine exclaimed. "There must be some exceptions!"
"The Balambian government is famous for being by the book," Quistis shook her head. "They consider a lack of response as a violation of immigration laws. They never make exceptions, reasoning that otherwise, people will exploit loopholes and flood into the country."
"So what? We need more people!" Zell exclaimed. "Even the cafeteria is short-staffed. We always run out of hotdogs to feed barely one hundred students!"
"Xenophobia," Quistis shrugged in disappointment. "Many territories are like that, not just in Balamb. Adel's interference with radio signals has kept every nation isolated. We've all been living in giant bubbles until recently."
"I don't believe it," Irvine stood up and snatched the notice from Selphie. "Even any Deling citizen like myself can get a working visa in Balamb in an afternoon. Are you sure Balamb doesn't have a special visa category for Trabians?"
Selphie sighed, her usually bubbly demeanor replaced by sadness. "Trabia is a developing country. Balamb always sees it as a backyard and doesn't want people migrating over…"
Zell was taken aback. "Selphie, that's not true! We always welcome you and any Trabian friends."
"I know," Selphie replied, tears welling back in her eyes. "I love you all, too. But I have to obey the laws like everyone else. No one is above the law." She covered her face, letting her big curls sway side to side as she shook her head. "Not a single day have you guys made me feel like an outsider. But now, I just realize I'll never be one of you…"
"Hey, I'm the outsider here, not you, Selfy!" Rinoa said, placing her hands on Selphie's shoulders.
"Wait, Rinoa," an idea flashed through Quistis's mind. "Come to think of it, your residency is in Timber, right? What's your visa status now that you're enrolled in Garden as a full-time student?"
Selphie stopped crying and glanced at Rinoa, as did everyone else. The young sorceress didn't answer right away, glancing at her knight instead.
"Well?" Rinoa grinned awkwardly.
Squall, who stood by the door like a stranger in his own room, frowned and avoided everyone's gaze.
"What?" Selphie couldn't bear the suspense. "Tell us!"
"Should we...?" Rinoa asked awkwardly, glancing at Squall again.
"Since when do you need to ask him for permission to talk?" Quistis frowned.
"For this matter, I kind of have to," Rinoa said, scratching her head.
Squall facepalmed in response, triggering a gasp from Quistis.
"What?" Selphie turned to Quistis immediately.
Now everyone looked at Quistis for an answer, who stammered, "I may know how you guys made it possible for Rinoa to stay. But since when?" Quistis swallowed, glancing between Rinoa and Squall.
"Not long ago," Rinoa grinned.
"Congratulations," Quistis rolled her eyes, still in disbelief. "You guys should have told us."
"Thanks? It's not a big deal. We just didn't know how you would react," Rinoa replied, speaking for Squall again.
"What happened?" Irvine couldn't hide his curiosity.
"Yes, tell us, quick!" Zell urged.
Quistis firmly announced, "Rinoa and Squall got married. That's why Rinoa can stay here forever, as the spouse of a Balambian citizen."
"WHAT?!"
Everyone shouted and jumped out of their seats. Squall's face turned red, making his scar less noticeable.
"Wait, WHAT?" Rinoa yelled. "That's not what happened!"
"Huh?" Quistis looked at Rinoa, baffled. "You guys didn't get married?"
"Of course NOT!" Rinoa's high-pitched voice seemed to shatter any glass in the room. "We didn't get married. What's wrong with you, Quistis? Where did you get that idea?"
Quistis covered her ears as Rinoa's volume assaulted her, then pointed at her phone lying on the bed, showing search results of Balamb's immigration laws. "Marriage is the first option according to the website."
"But that's not the only option!" Rinoa exclaimed. "We're not married!" She made eye contact with everyone except Squall, ensuring her message was clear. "We are NOT!"
"Calm down, Rin," Zell asked. "If you're not married to Squall, then how can you stay in Balamb?"
Rinoa shot a pleading look at Squall again, who sighed and signaled her to spill the beans.
"We applied for an investment visa. And it costs 500,000 gils."
Everyone gasped at her response.
"Half a million Gils? Wow," Irvine swallowed. "I assume it's from your dad, if you don't mind me asking."
Rinoa stared at Squall who remained silent as always with his poker face.
"It doesn't look like she has reconnected with Caraway though. She didn't come to his re-election ceremony," detective Trepe concluded. "She didn't get it from her dad. She got the money from Squall."
Everyone gasped as the silence from Squall confirmed Quistis's theory.
"How the hell did you get 500,000 gils, man?" Zell asked, unconsciously tapping his foot on the floor.
Squall facepalmed as Rinoa looked at him for help. Finally, he revealed, "I had to sell all of my items to get the money, including refining some face cards."
"You what?" Quistis shouted. "You did what to our cards?"
Squall paused, then explained. "Because Rinoa is important to us."
"Aww," Selphie exclaimed. "She really is."
"Surely you don't mind losing your cards," Squall said.
"Yeah, yeah, we don't…" Zell and Irvine agreed.
"Right," Quistis adjusted her eyeglasses and retreated to a corner like a sad puppy. "I need some water."
"I'll grab you one!" Rinoa quickly offered. "We'll get your card back, I promise…"
They were now back to square one regarding Selphie's immigration status.
Selphie sighed. "I don't have that kind of money. I became a SeeD to follow my passion, earning 5,000 gils a month. If I push my SeeD rank, I can get 30,000. But still, three months are not enough for me to gather 500,000 gils."
"I'll lend you all of my savings!" Zell declared determinedly.
"Aww, thanks, friend. How much do you have?"
"800." Zell checked both of his pockets. "Oh, no, I lied. It's 700 after five hot dogs."
He handed over seven bills with a few coins. Selphie sighed. "Thank you, Zell. I appreciate it, but this is hardly enough..."
"I know," Zell scratched his head. "Sorry, I'm slow to follow here. But why don't you consider the marriage option?"
"Because I don't have a boyfriend?" Selphie frowned.
"It doesn't have to be a real marriage," Rinoa said with a whistle.
"What?" Selphie didn't understand.
"Ahem, that doesn't come from me, for the record," Quistis interjected. "But yes, a fake marriage is the easiest option. It would involve some acting, but it's totally doable." She glanced at the boys. "Find a Balambian to marry, apply for a blue card, and you can stay for three years. After that, you can become a legitimate Balambian citizen."
"Who can I get married to?" Selphie followed Quistis's eyes to look at the boys.
"Irvine is out of the picture," Quistis said.
"Hey!" the cowboy exclaimed.
"Sorry, you're on work visa and it's useless," Quistis explained coldly.
"Well, Squall is definitely mine," Rinoa stood up and grabbed the Commander's arm. "Which means…"
Everyone looked at Zell who was eating a hotdog halfway.
"But he's dating the Library girl with a pigtail!" Irvine disagreed. "I don't think I'm out of the picture yet. What does the law say about spouse of a work visa holder?"
Quistis grabbed her phone again and began tapping.
"Alright, you're not wrong. Selphie can stay in Balamb if she's married to you…"
"Yes!" Irvine jumped.
"But," Quistis looked at Selphie. "She can't work."
"What?""I'm not going to stay without getting paid. What are my options? Let's hear them all."
"War refugees," Quistis suggested.
"Oh! Like we could bomb Trabia and make Selphie a refugee..." Rinoa said.
Everyone stared.
"Rinoa, please," Squall facepalmed. "Don't let people suspect you're Ultimecia."
"Yeah, who would have thought?" Selphie felt a chill. "Next?"
"You can prove you're an extraordinary talent, an asset to national security," Quistis continued.
"Like defeating a sorceress from the future?" Selphie's eyes lit up for the first time of the night.
"We'll need to file an application to know for sure," Quistis said.
Selphie, with the help of her gang, spent the whole weekend to fill in various forms with hundred of questions.
"Have you ever… been a member of any group that advocated… opposition to an organized government… Yes; the overthrow by force or violence of any government… Yes," Selphie got excited as she could tick all the boxes. "I wonder how a normal person could ever score high in this sheet!"
"You're on fire!" Zell looked ahead in the list of questions. "Sabotage? Yes. Destruction of public properties? Hell yes!"
"Used a weapon or explosive with intent to kill?" Irvine read along. "Piece of cake!"
"Ever detained in prison?" Quistis frowned.
"That checks out! We were in D-District, don't you remember?" Zell asked.
"Right," Quistis pondered. "But why do I have a feeling that this is not right."
"We have to answer honestly anyway," Selphie said. "It's stated here, if I lie, it's an automatic offense."
Quistis sighed. "Alright then."
The next few days, they ran around Gardens to ask for supporting documents such as recommendation letters from Selphie's former instructors in Trabia, elaborating her combat skills. On Monday morning, she dropped off a giant package at Balambian Immigration Service, hoping for the best.