Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Sowing the SeeDs ❯ Chapter 7

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Sowing the SeeDs : Part 7

a fanfic by His lordship Chaos
with Greenbeans
edited by Helen Fong
based on the world of Final Fantasy 8
created by Square Electronic Arts L.L.C.


- Quistis -

"The Fire Cavern test?!" Eugene had to bite down on his tongue to keep
from shouting it across the corridor. Granted the hallway was deserted, but
there might have been others in the various rooms they passed who could have
heard it. That still didn't hide the surprise (and disbelief) in his voice.

He looked to Kei, who was walking alongside him. Only a day had passed
since their discussion in the Library and already Kei's role in Quistis'
upbringing was making him edgy.

Kei nodded as if it was a perfectly sensible idea. "It's not like she
won't be doing it eventually. I can get the two of you off campus, and from
there we can test Quistis in the cavern."

"I know we're tryin' to push her into the best that she can be," Eugene
admitted, glancing over his shoulder with newfound paranoia. "But this sounds a
little extreme even for her. She's only twelve, Kei."

If she was concerned about anyone hearing their conversation, Kei didn't
show it. She seemed perfectly calm as she simply replied, "I know that."

"Kei, *I* haven't even taken the Fire Cavern test yet! I'll be doing that
in about three weeks along with all my other graduation exams."

A wry grin appeared on Kei's face. "Then you should be grateful I'm
showing you what you're up against."

Eugene was still leery, having been around Quistis for quite some time
now. She had yet to be given her own Quezelcoatl and Shiva GFs, and he doubted
she would be able to use them properly against something as powerful as Ifrit.
But Kei insisted that, regardless of Quistis' knowledge of GF use, it could be
a profound growing experience.

After all, Ifrit wasn't technically a monster and would back down if it
saw she was not a threat to it. Not to mention there was one SeeD and one
near-graduation SeeD cadet who would be close by. Kei also argued regarding how
many things at Quistis' age were done just for the challenge, and not for
succeeding.

"You have a taste for dramatics," Eugene sighed, conceding to Kei's idea.
"Brashness certainly reflects your personality."

The two agreed that Kei would take care of the arrangements, including
Skye. Eugene personally doubted that Skye would be a problem, given her usual
disposition. Kei could probably just say 'I'm taking Quistis out for some
training' and Skye would only shrug in acknowledgement.

Once the initial details were etched out, the two parted company in the
Quad. Kei added she would pay him a visit at the usual time and place (the
Library just before it closed) the next day. All Eugene had to do was brace
himself and hope Kei knew what she was talking about.



Quistis couldn't help but confess her own anxious curiosity to Eugene as
they stood in one of the back corners of the Parking Garage. It was after
lights out, and Eugene had unexpectedly brought her here about ten minutes
before she would be considered breaking the rules. Rebelling like this was a
unique thrill, but it was severely muzzled by the fact that she didn't know
what they were doing or why. Eugene was the one in the lead; all she could do
was follow.

"Try to not make so much noise," Eugene said, his hands folded over his
chest as he leaned against the wall. There, his tall stature was partially
masked by the shadows. If either of them ran the risk of being spotted, it was
him. Then again, Quistis' nervous fidgeting was liable to get some curious hall
monitor coming their way to investigate what all the noise was about.

Quistis nodded and tried not to shuffle about so much.

All her pent-up excitement and energy had to be channeled somehow; it
seemed wrong for her to have to keep it suppressed like this. She marveled at
how calm Eugene was--though, in reality, Eugene was sweating bullets.

"But what happens if the night patrol finds us?" Quistis asked.

Eugene continued to scan the immediate area from where he stood. His
battle parasol was in its harness and hanging down his back; Quistis had yet to
ask him why he had it in the first place. He kept his voice to a low whisper as
he answered, "Actually, Quistis, I'm counting on that."

Abruptly the sound of slow, deliberate footsteps echoed across the
deserted garage. With most of the main lights turned off the figure looked
absolutely menacing as it drew closer, parts of it shifting in and out of the
light.

Quistis squeaked, and instinctively moved behind Eugene. However Eugene
seemed strangely calm. "I see you cleared the garage as promised," Eugene
remarked, nodding to Kei as she finally emerged from the shadows.

"I'm a familiar face around here," Kei replied. "All I had to do was offer
to make the rounds in the garage, and the patroller was happy to let me." She
glanced down at Quistis, who was still hiding behind Eugene. "We'll have to
skip the introductions until we're outside. There's a five minute window, and
after that it'll be a lot harder to get out unnoticed."

Eugene nodded and nudged Quistis out in front of him.

Kei took the lead while Eugene took the rear.

That left Quistis in the middle again, one or the other ensuring she would
duck down when they ducked, or ran when they ran. To Quistis it felt strange
doing this. Balamb Garden was designed to keep people from sneaking in, not
sneaking out. Everyone who was in the Garden wanted to be there. Then again, it
was fun to pretend like she was an actual SeeD, on a mission full of danger and
intrigue.

The rush Quistis felt was so unlike what she felt whenever she went with
the guys into the Training Centre. This was something completely new, and she
was enjoying it. What an adventure it was to get off the grounds after dark!
Quistis did her best to mimic Eugene and Kei's movements as they slipped
through the shadows and silently dashed across open areas. The hardest part was
not to giggle or squeak in excitement when they had to stay quiet the entire
time.

After what felt like only two or three minutes (amazing how time was
accelerated courtesy of adrenaline), they were outside of Balamb Garden and out
of sight from any sentries, Eugene eased up.

"Well, I think it's safe to finally say something outside of a hushed
breath," he sighed, the worst of the tension (for now) leaving his system. It
was a good thing Kei was escorting them; as a SeeD she could make up anything
she wanted and very few would argue. She made for a very convenient contingency
plan.

"Quistis, meet SeeD Kei," he said, gesturing to Kei. "Since I'll be
graduating soon, she'll be around to help you out. As a SeeD, Kei has a lot of
pull around the Garden. She can give you a hand when we cadets have reached our
limits."

Quistis didn't know what to say apart from a meek, 'Thank you' as she
shook Kei's hand. Kei had a firm, powerful grip, and Quistis bit her lip to try
and stop from showing just how crushed her own hand was.

Eugene gestured for Kei to say whatever else she wanted. His job was more
providing a basis for introductions; from there, Kei would have to decide what
she wanted to share with Quistis.

"I'm also Xu's cousin," Kei added. The surprise on Quistis' face mirrored
that on Eugene's. Of all the things for Kei to say, he hadn't expected that.
"She spoke very highly of you," Kei continued. "I expect that in time I will be
able to say the same, as well."

Quistis nodded, and the group moved further from the Garden's outer
perimeter.

An apparently abandoned jeep was awaiting them just beyond the outskirts
of the area. Kei pulled out the keys from one of her pockets. "It's easier to
walk out of Balamb than drive," she stated. Besides, she had the jeep signed
out for two full days, and since she was a SeeD no questions would be asked
about what she did with it--unless she came back with only a few melted pieces
of what used to be said jeep.

"I assume you brought her rante?" Eugene asked Kei.

The SeeD nodded. "It's in the back of the jeep. Did you make sure she
brought her gloves?"

Now it was Eugene's turn to nod. "She also brought along her spells. How
effective they'll be against a GF has yet to be seen."

Quistis looked from one to the other, the uneasy feeling creeping into her
system that this all had something to do with her. Once they all piled into the
jeep and drove off, Quistis dared to ask where they were going. "To the Fire
Cavern," Kei answered. "You're going to be tested, Quistis."

Any otherwise cool composure Quistis had managed to hold was lost. A look
of unparalleled shock mirrored in her widening eyes. To enter the cave was one
of final tests for a graduating cadet! She wasn't even close to being that. Her
face showed her thoughts well enough: what were Kei and Eugene thinking?!

She looked to Eugene, as if he might suddenly start laughing and tell her
it was all a joke. But he was just as serious as Kei was. He was too tense for
this to merely be a gag.

"Consider this a test of your abilities, cadet Quistis," Kei said. "While
your credentials are impressive, they are merely paper. If you succeed in the
cavern, you will receive your GF--but that doesn't mean you graduate. Not yet,
any ways."

Quistis still didn't seem thrilled with the prospect.

But Kei looked straight at her. "I'll watch your back. Trust me," she
said, her voice indicating how much she meant every word.

Eugene tried to remain cool and looked up at the sky. A bump in the road
jostled his head, but he still kept his eyes fixated on the stars.

He just hoped Quistis actually survived this and had the chance to
graduate, period.



A blast of intense heat caused Quistis to back away from the cavernous maw
of the cave to gasp for breath. Intellectually she knew that it was a *fire*
cavern, but that did little to prepare one for the heat. Eugene gave her a
sympathetic smile as Kei fished something from the pack that was slung across
her back. She handed each of them a water flask to fasten to their belts.
They'd need to maintain their fluids while battling in the cavern.

Eugene had to resist the urge to take Quistis back as he stared into the
gaping hole in the earth. The scorched earth and crimson steam belching out
from the entrance made it appear to be a gateway into hell itself. No wonder
cadets were kept away from it until they were tested. Eugene scowled; he didn't
have the slightest idea what awaited them in the underground. Breaking curfew
and leaving the Garden unauthorized was one thing. But in here Quistis could
get seriously hurt--or even killed. His eyes glanced over to Kei, who
definitely looked determined for them to go through with this.

"Out of frying pan and into the fire cavern," Eugene muttered to himself,
unable to smile at his own half-hearted joke.

Once everyone was ready, Kei led the way. Quistis' eyes traced along the
cavern's walls with intense curiosity. She would have to look up the history of
the cave and when it was formed when she returned to the Garden. With a gloved
hand she reached out to touch a nearby rock.

The rock suddenly moved.

Quistis let out a startled squeak as she withdrew. Glowing eyes followed
her, then the wings of the Buel that was resting along the wall spread. It gave
a squawk of protest for being disturbed before taking to the air. A pair of Red
Bats that had been hanging from the cavern's ceiling swooped down to assist
their comrade.

"The Buel uses low level element magic that you can draw from it. The bats
are nothing more than a pest, so focus your attention on the ugly one," Kei
advised.

Ugly didn't begin to describe it in Quistis' opinion. Its head was at the
center of its body with a pair of beady eyes and a pointed muzzle. Two pairs of
three wings rotated behind it in opposite directions to keep it in the air. She
wouldn't be surprised if there was magic behind its ability to fly. How it was
keeping in the air didn't seem to be physically possible considering its wing
configuration.

Such thoughts were promptly knocked from her mind as a Red Bat dived at
her, trying to rake across her face. Quistis guarded her head with her arms.
Having it get caught in her hair was inviting disaster.

The Red Bat hissed and ascended.

As Kei had told her, Quistis ignored it. Her grip around the rante ber
gangedug tightened as she saw the Buel charge, letting loose a high-pitched
screech as it attacked. In the midst of the crimson hues and choking steam, the
thing looked almost like a demon screaming towards her.

From where he stood far behind Quistis, parasol ready to be deployed and
deflect the Buel's attack, Eugene clenched his jaw. Kei on the other hand
hadn't even bothered to unsheathe her katana.

Suddenly Quistis glared at the attacking Buel and tried to give a shout
that would rival its own battle cry. With a rapid motion she raised her rante
and twirled the weapon before yanking down hard to bring the chain whip
smashing into the ground. The speared end didn't slash the Buel, but it did
club the creature right in the face. With a yelp the Buel's flight faltered and
it crashed onto the cavern floor. In a vain attempt to rise it fluttered its
wings and let out a pitiful whine. It wasn't going anywhere.

The ease of her victory greatly surprised Quistis. She stepped forward,
appraising the fallen Buel.

"Take whatever you can from it," Kei stated, startling the young cadet out
of her reverie. "And then move on. We don't have time to stand around." She
turned to Eugene. "Stop being so damned intense; you'd think you were her
brother or something."

Eugene delivered a solemn gaze to Kei before he turned and walked over to
Quistis. "In many ways, I am."

They moved through the rest of the fire cavern at a good pace. It wasn't
anywhere near as swift as a graduating SeeD would want, but naturally Quistis
wasn't a graduating SeeD. About a half-hour later, Quistis found herself
getting dizzy from all the heat. Her body was sweating profusely, making her
entire uniform one damp unpleasant mess to walk around in. Her water bottle was
empty, but Eugene had switched his full bottle with hers.

On the positive side, all her training with fighting Grats had made Buels
barely even a challenge for her--once she learned their fighting techniques.
Soon no airborne creature had a chance to get beyond the outer range of her
rante.

After what seemed to be an exhausting eternity they reached the final
chamber of the cavern. Somewhere on the other side, Ifrit awaited them.

Kei called Quistis back, and gave the cadet a small polished stone.
Quistis recognized it as GF Shiva's stone; Xu had one just like it. "You'll
want to use this against Ifrit," Kei told her. "Summoning a GF is a lot like
casting a spell: you need to concentrate."

Quistis felt Shiva stir, a warm flux in the temperature of the stone.
Shiva had sensed the changing of hands, but was too groggy to take notice since
she had yet to be called upon. On the other hand, when she was handed the stone
of Quezelcoatl, the GF took notice of its new owner. Quistis sensed a curious
probing before Quezelcoatl decided it liked her.

It appeared that the two Guardian Forces would co-operate with Quistis in
fighting Ifrit. But that didn't make Eugene feel any easier. And the glare Kei
gave him was enough to make him not press the issue. With that sort of look in
Kei's eyes, Ifrit would be a more preferable adversary to fight against.

They crossed into the final cavern.

The stalagmites and stalactites were longer here and the high ceiling made
the cavern seem almost hospitable. However, the heat generated from this
chamber seemed to be what warmed the entire Fire Cavern. Only a third of this
underground room was solid rock to stand on; the rest was one enormous pool of
molten flames. There was some kind of lava pit in front of them, bubbling and
churning scarlet and orange liquids all mixing together. The intense heat from
the pit was staggering, the air almost too hot to breathe. Quistis had to pause
and take a long drink from her water flask.

Once she satisfied her thirst, her curiosity got the best of her. Quistis
ventured forward to peer over the edge of the bubbling pit. Not exactly sure
when or where Ifrit would be appearing from, Eugene started moving to a
flanking position parallel to where Quistis stood. He glanced down at the fiery
lake, and suddenly realized with a chill (despite the resident heat) how the
Guardian Force would be making his appearance.

"Don't get too close to the edge," Kei cautioned them both.

Eugene glanced back at Kei, his parasol resting on his shoulder. He nodded
and kept his distance from Quistis.

Quistis, on the other hand, looked at them both in confusion. "Where's
Ifrit?" she asked.

She got her answer a few seconds later as the entire Fire Cavern seemed to
rumble. Stones came loose from the ceiling and plummeted to the ground below.
Both Quistis and Eugene leapt back from the edge of the flaming lake as the
stones splashed down, spraying the molten liquid in all directions.

"So," rumbled a voice. "You are here to challenge me, are you?"

The flames crackling atop the surface of the molten lake burned even
fiercer than before, doubling in numbers. The intense shudders of the Fire
Cavern continued as the lava started to bubble violently. The lake swelled,
pouring down in blurry cascades of liquid inferno. Steam flooded the area,
driving the SeeD cadets further from the edge.

And then out from beneath the surface of the fiery lake emerged Ifrit.
Ifrit looked every bit an infernal demon. Its immense body resembled something
out of a horror story: tall and muscular, long talons twitching on each hand,
with a sloping head that resembled a dragon. A pair of horns corkscrewed out
from the back of Ifrit's crimson head.

Quistis felt her throat go dry as she tilted her head up and up and then
up again, gaping in newfound terror at the sheer size of the GF. How could she
possibly be expected to defeat something this monstrously huge with her tiny
chain whip?!

Ifrit scanned the trio, its growling breath echoing across the cavern. The
low guttural sounds escaping its throat made it seem even more daunting. The GF
was seeing who was the one chosen to fight against it. One look at Kei and
Ifrit could sense she had already fought and defeated it before. The GF didn't
even give her a second glance, now appraising Quistis and Eugene.

"Very well," it stated, glaring at Eugene. "I accept your challenge."

Eugene was startled by its acceptance of a challenge he was certain he
hadn't made. "Wh-What? I ain't your challenger!" he shouted back, vehemently
shaking his head. Given a few weeks, definitely.

Ifrit leaned back, surprised. It turned to Kei with a quizzical
expression; Kei simply pointed over to a paralyzed Quistis. The rogue GF almost
seemed to do a double-take as it appraised the trembling adolescent in front of
it. It looked back at Kei as if to silently ask 'Are you sure about this?'

Kei nodded.

With what sounded like a conceding sigh, Ifrit turned to Quistis. Its jaws
opened to unleash a ferocious bellow, which shook the roof of the cavern. That
more than anything else snapped Quistis back to attention, and she raced across
the cavern to give herself more room to fight.

Ifrit watched her move before letting loose with an explosive barrage of
fireballs. Quistis' agility was put to the test as the GF hammered her
relentlessly, the young cadet dodging the flaming balls as they struck the
rocky terrain and erupted. The flames always died out quickly, but left in
their place a small crater of scorched earth.

At one point during the battle Quistis was singed by a blast from the
fire. She cried out, the pain shooting through her arm unexpected and unwanted.
Eugene stepped forward to defend her, but Kei glared at him so fiercely that
even a rampant T-Rexaur would have shrunk back into a corner and complied.

Quistis winced as she had to dive roll out of the path of yet another
fireball, the uneven ground feeling harsh against her shoulder. She came out of
her roll in a crouch, and saw an opening as Ifrit momentarily lost sight of her
behind a burning fireball. Her fingers curled around Shiva's GF stone.

It had been a long time since she had 'held' Shiva in her hand. At the
time, Shiva seemed rather thrilled with all the petting it was receiving. As
she closed her eyes and focused on calling upon Shiva, Quistis silently prayed
that the GF would remember her.

Shiva definitely recognized Quistis.

The icy GF exploded from the stone in Quistis' hand, revealing herself to
a startled Ifrit. Her whitened body was a stark contrast to the sunset hues of
the Fire Cavern. But when Shiva just hovered there in the air and looked back,
Quistis realized to her horror that she didn't know how to command a GF to
perform a spell.

Ifrit saw her hesitation, then unleashed a second wave--this one directed
at Shiva. Shiva screamed as her body was pelted with her opposing element,
trying to shield her face.

Quistis' eyes widened as she saw the beating Shiva was taking, utterly
helpless to say or do anything to intervene. She didn't know if a GF could be
killed like a human, but she didn't want it to happen. Somewhere amidst the
tears, anger and magic, Ifrit became a T-Rexaur in Quistis' eyes.

With a cry mixed of rage, fear and desperation, Quistis projected
everything she had towards her GF. Whatever managed to explode from somewhere
deep within her channeled itself right into Shiva. The GF's body shimmered
before she held out her hands and leveled a cyclone of wind, snow and ice at
Ifrit. The attack was enough to send Ifrit stumbling back, reeling slightly
from the impact.

Kei straightened up as she witnessed the burst of magic from Quistis. This
was something she had never seen happen so quickly before. If humans could bond
tightly with their GFs in a moment's time, Quistis looked to have done so with
Shiva.

Shiva pummeled Ifrit with a second wave of Diamond Dust. The fire
elemental roared with outrage, as though to shatter the icy case surrounding
him with his voice alone.

Quistis then summoned Quezelcoatl, and tried to repeat how she had given
Shiva the command to attack. It worked, Quezelcoatl reacting instantly and
throttling Ifrit with a Thunder Storm. She then alternated between the two,
just as relentless as Ifrit had been at the start of the fight.

Ifrit had no chance to attack when it had to direct all its efforts
towards defending itself from Shiva and Quezelcoatl's spells. Soon its strength
wore out, and Ifrit admitted its defeat.

The air temperature in the Fire Cavern dropped considerably, a refreshing
draft flooding the area and racing past Eugene and Kei. Satisfied with their
near flawless victory, Shiva and Quezelcoatl returned to their stones. Quistis
tightly gripped the stones, feeling each GF tingle her skin in celebration.

But the battle had been won at a cost.

Quistis dropped to her knees, and then collapsed on the ground. Kei and
Eugene raced to her side, Eugene actually sliding across the loose dirt and
rocks the last couple meters. He cradled her unconscious form in his arms,
looking up at Kei.

"Heat stroke," he said. "She's exhausted."

"I don't blame her," Kei replied. "We should take her outside and make
sure she's all right. I'd prefer not to have Doctor Kadowaki me ask me
questions I'm not about to answer."

Eugene bit his lip about saying this wouldn't have happened if they hadn't
taken Quistis here in the first place. But truth be told, he was still in awe
of having witnessed her defeat of Ifrit. The thrill and experience Quistis
gained made his protests after the fact a moot point.

Both he and Kei knew it.

"Not many cadets have given me so much trouble," Ifrit rumbled, licking
its wounds. It stared directly at Kei, and Kei simply crossed her arms over her
chest. Something unspoken was shared between the two; Eugene had a healthy
suspicion that Kei was one of those 'troublesome' cadets Ifrit had mentioned.

Ifrit reached out and flicked something across the cavern. Kei's arm
snapped forward and snatched the item out from the air. It was Ifrit's stone.

"She has proven herself more than worthy of calling upon me," Ifrit
stated, its body starting to sink back into the molten lake. "When she awakens,
give that to her."

Kei pocketed the Ifrit stone, and then gently removed Quezelcoatl and
Shiva from Quistis' hands. The two GFs pouted upon their removal.

"I'd say this was well worth the risk, don't you?" she asked Eugene.

Eugene smiled wearily and nodded, though his own mind was preoccupied with
something else. What he didn't like was how well Quistis had managed to command
her GF even on a first-time basis. That wasn't the concern though, but again
she was displaying some sort of incredible magic... and yet her training with
Jessie still needed work. Why?

He puzzled over that as he hoisted Quistis onto his back and carried out
her out of the Fire Cavern. Kei brought up the rear, toting everyone's weapons.
When the fresh, cold air of the night struck their faces, it was a very
welcomed sensation.



Quistis spent the next few days 'sick' in bed.

Well... technically she was sick, Eugene reflected. She had lost a lot of
fluids and was both physically and mentally exhausted. But he would have never
dreamed of such a tiny thing utterly trouncing Ifrit. What a precedent she had
set--even if they couldn't tell the other cadets about it.

Doctor Kadowaki called it a nasty flu bug and had Quistis placed in the
Infirmary. Quistis was put on an IV line until her body had replenished its
fluids. For most of her time in recovery, Quistis was pretty groggy; yet
whenever she was awake, she was smiling for some mysterious reason.

"I don't care what the Doctor says," Jessie stated as he and Eugene kept
vigil outside the Infirmary. "I've faked sick plenty of times to know my
symptoms, and that is no flu virus." He turned to Eugene. "What's the story?"

Eugene sighed, sticking his hands into his pockets. He turned his head
away from Jessie and looked down the corridor. "You wouldn't believe me even if
I told you," he answered.

Doctor Kadowaki had demanded the same thing from him, and that was the
answer he had given her. It definitely risked his graduating as a SeeD--had Kei
not intervened. He had no idea what she told the Doctor, but the hammer had yet
to fall on him.

It looked like he was in the clear.

Now he just had to worry about his own battle with Ifrit.



Kei disappeared during the month of July, and for half of August. Quistis
had managed to piece something together about Kei being asked to escort someone
to the Anshin clan. As much as she wanted to see where Xu had grown up, she
knew she had other obligations.

The battle and victory against Ifrit had done wonders for her
self-confidence. Jessie and LeVar both noticed something different about her,
namely that Quistis was getting a little more aggressive in her work. The shy,
reluctant passivity was being slowly eaten away and replaced with the maturity
gained only by a profound experience.

Eugene never did tell them what said experience was. And he made it a
point that Quistis should never tell anyone else about it. She understood; more
than only her would get in trouble for such a dangerous violation of Garden
rules. He did add, though, that she could continue to work with Ifrit inside
the Training Centre.

He became her sole partner inside the Centre as much as he could afford to
during his last two months, watching her get more proficient at summoning Ifrit
and having the GF incinerate a pesky Grat. When Kei returned, he left the
duties with her.

Quistis had a number of questions to ask Kei about life in the Anshin
clan; Xu had never really said much of anything about them. Kei proved to be
even more tight-lipped. No love was lost between Kei and her abandoned
heritage.

Breaking up Squall and Seifer fights also became one of her regular
duties. It was either happy coincidence or bad luck that she ran across them
more often than not when they scuffled. Privately she wondered about their
chances at graduation with the number of reprimands that must be on their
records. Only time will tell with that pair.

Time wasn't on her side at it swiftly came for Eugene to take his exams.

Quistis had to race from one of her classes over to where the potential
graduates were taking their written exam. Eugene walked out about twenty
minutes later, and got a passing grade. His field test came two days later.

During the interim, Quistis helped him pack up his things in his dorm
room. "I'm going to miss seeing you around every day," he said to her as he
removed some mementos from home and carefully placed them into a duffel bag.
"You're the sister I never had."

That surprised Quistis a little. The way Eugene behaved around her made it
seem like she reminded him of a little sister. "Don't you have one?"

"Nope," Eugene said, shaking his head. "I got two brothers: one younger
and one older. They're all tending the family farm. I got nominated for the
glory road; most the gil I'll be earning will go to support the farm. Machinery
costs a lot these days."

Quistis nodded, saddened all the more that he'd be leaving soon. But she
had been through the same ordeal with Xu and made it out alive. This time it
was different, though. Quistis felt a lot older than from what she had been
almost nine months ago. And the changes had been all for the better.

Eugene grinned as he paused to watch Quistis carefully fold some of his
clothes up. It was an odd feeling, leaving a legacy like her behind. But now
more than ever he felt certain Quistis would graduate a SeeD. With any luck,
their paths would cross again in the future.



Eugene paid her one final visit after the private graduation ceremony was
held. Quistis was busy crushing Jessie at a game of Triple Triad in his and
LeVar's dorm, with LeVar sprawled out on his bunk reading up for a report due
in a few days.

When Eugene strolled in unannounced, he was in a SeeD uniform and looked
every bit the part.

"I'll be damned," Jessie laughed as he stood up and patted Eugene on the
shoulder. "You made it after all!"

"Top of the class, no less," Eugene added, the pride in his voice unable
to be hidden. "I was Squad Leader, and got the best field grade of them all."

LeVar rolled out from his bunk and carefully stepped over the Triple Triad
game. "It's going to be different with you not around anymore," he said,
extending his hand. The two friends shook. "Who's going to help me keep Jessie
in line?"

"I don't know," Eugene admitted. "Maybe you should ask Quistis."

Quistis' head snapped to attention as she stood alongside LeVar, waiting
for her turn to say good-bye. She wrapped her arms around Eugene's thick chest,
warmly hugging him as best as she could. "I'll never forget you," she said.

Eugene hugged her, though tried not to crush her in his grip. "I'll miss
ya too," he admitted, smiling fondly. He abruptly paused and glanced over at
Jessie and LeVar, who were both grinning like Cheshire cats up to no good.

"Awwww!" the two chorused, giving a wistful sigh.

Eugene huffed, "The first time you two work together, and it's to mock me.
There is no justice."

Quistis had to giggle at that.

"So what's the first mission?" Jessie asked, tossing an issue of Weapons
Monthly off his desk to clear a place to sit.

"I leave for Centra this afternoon," Eugene replied, finding a corner of
the bunk bed to lean against. "At least I think it's the Centra Ruins.
Something about a missing person. I don't know; they haven't given us much
information about it."

"Or else they've told you everything and you're not allowed to share,"
LeVar countered.

Eugene just shrugged. "That too."



As the summer faded into fall, things changed in a gradual and subtle way
for Quistis. Even with Eugene gone, Jessie and LeVar were busy keeping her a
part of Garden life. Jessie was starting to make good on his word and introduce
Quistis to a variety of his friends. These people treated her differently from
when they had talked to her after Sean's death. Everyone seemed more sincere
and friendly. A number of them invited Quistis to join them in their activities
when she had some free time. Offers and challenges for Triple Triad abounded,
as rumour of Quistis' growing skill at the game spread.

And more than one female cadet fawned over how Jessie was being so
selfless in being a surrogate big brother for her. Jessie played it for all he
could, and managed to get a few nightly rendezvous in the process too.

Much to Doctor Kadowaki's relief (not to mention Cid's), Quistis was
making a lot of progress in her therapy sessions. Ripples from her duel against
Ifrit had boosted the young cadet's self-confidence considerably, and much of
the grief she had suffered in the wake of Sean's death was gone. It wasn't that
Quistis had forgotten or suppressed the pain. Most importantly, she had learned
to cope with it and move on.

Quistis never really seemed to realize any of this, moving through her
classes and training as any other cadet would have. On October fourth she
celebrated her 13th birthday. Kei, LeVar and Jessie had hosted a surprise party
in the Cafeteria about an hour before it closed. While there hadn't been that
many presents to give to her, it was the laughter and friendship that Quistis
appreciated the most.

She was aware of how much a 'household' name she was becoming among her
peers--but thanks to the earlier efforts from Sean and his friends, virtually
all of the talk about her was incredibly positive.

Trepie support was on the rise, and Jessie had made it his mission to get
to know each female supporter personally. LeVar just rolled his eyes--though he
admittedly had more contact with the ladies, who would always ask him how
Quistis was doing.

"At this rate, you might get a date before you graduate," Jessie once
ribbed him. "Maybe the Fire Cavern will freeze over after all."

"If that becomes the case," LeVar retorted, "I'll have Ifrit drive the
zamboni machine and run you down."

LeVar paused in his studies as he thought about a rather cute red-haired
female cadet whom he had met thanks to Quistis' growing notoriety. His thoughts
returned to his homework, and he started paging through the small stacks of
books sprawled out on the table. Across from him, Quistis was doing her own
research on a subject their study group had been assigned for a military
history class.

He watched Quistis from the corner of his eye as she squinted at the book
on the desk. She paused in her reading to massage the bridge of her nose before
getting back to it.

"Headache?" he asked with modest sympathy.

She nodded without looking up from her studies.

"Do you get them often?" LeVar knew the answer, but kept it to himself. He
had noticed this starting to happen more frequently to Quistis, but decided not
to press the issue until Quistis brought it up. Now seemed like a good time to
test out his suspicions.

She shrugged. "Only when I'm studying. Maybe I'm thinking too hard?" She
favored him with a small lopsided smile.

He closed the book he was reading then walked over to the desk she was at
and closed her book after marking the page. "Or perhaps it's something else.
Let's go see Doctor Kadowaki."

Confusion colored her face as she looked back at her book reluctantly.
"I'm not sick. Why would I need to see the Doctor?"

"Trust me."

He picked up her books with his own and then gently guided her out of the
Library.



Jessie spun around in his chair and gave a wolf whistle as Quistis
hesitantly entered the dorm room. "Not bad at all," he remarked, nodding his
approval.

"Are you sure?" Quistis asked, wrinkling her brow as she tried to get used
to seeing the world through a pair of wire-rimmed glasses. LeVar's insistence
that she see Doctor Kadowaki had result in the diagnosis that she was in need
of glasses. Now Quistis would have to use them when she was studying, but not
out in the field.

"Reading glasses aren't just for old ladies," LeVar stated, nudging
Quistis further into the room. "If anything, they give you an air of class and
sophistication."

Jessie drew a blank look before finally replying, "What he said.
Seriously, Quistis, those glasses actually make you look really... pretty."

Pretty.

Skye had said the same thing upon seeing Quistis with her new glasses.
Quistis wasn't sure how to interpret that; in the past, everyone described her
petite appearance as being cute. Cute like a baby, or a puppy dog. Pretty was a
descriptive word she had yet to grow accustomed to.

Not that she was entirely objecting to it.

After being praised by Jessie for a few more minutes, she had to excuse
herself to get to a training session with her rante ber gangedug.

"See you at the Cafeteria later tonight," LeVar said, waving to her as she
left.

Jessie's grin started to fade when Quistis closed the door behind herself.
"So... you noticed it too?" he inquired solemnly.

LeVar nodded. "Yeah."

The two guys looked around the room, expecting the other to give a
suggestion first. LeVar seemed to find something fascinating amidst the piles
of books on his desk. Jessie took to counting the dots on the ceiling tiles.

"We need to do something," LeVar said finally.

Jessie tipped his head back, putting distance between himself and his
roommate. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"For Quistis' sake, it has to be done."

"I know that," Jessie replied, growing more agitated. "But I just don't
think I'm the guy to do it. This is out of our league."

"What about Kei?"

Jessie almost laughed out loud. "Forget it! I'd rather face this thing
alone than risk giving Kei a reason to kick my ass. I know Eugene told us she'd
make a valuable contact, but even still," he pointed to LeVar. "You've talked
with her more than I have; you know her better!"

At this rate, they were going to be stuck at an impasse. By the time they
came up with a solution, odds were it would already be too late to handle the
situation properly. Or at least as properly as they could try.

LeVar held out a gil. "Heads, I speak with Kei. Tails it's your duty."

"Ha! You've already lost," Jessie laughed confidently. "I've never lost a
coin toss, and we both know it."



Kei was waiting for Jessie when he entered the Library just before closing
time the next evening. She briefly looked him over before getting down to
business. "I don't usually meet with you," she stated. "What happened to your
friend?"

Jessie shrugged, hands shoved deep into his pockets. "LeVar's with Quistis
in their study group and I lost the coin toss. Look, Eugene told us that if we
needed certain things regarding Quistis, we should come to you."

Jessie seemed incredibly nervous around Kei, which was warranted in a
sense. Usually LeVar was the one to make contact with Kei. Besides that Kei had
quite the 'queen bitch' reputation if you got on her bad side. But Kei could
sense there was something else that was making him agitated.

"And what is it?" she asked.

Jessie's eyes snapped back to fixate on her, and then he looked away to
some of the books as if they were more interesting. After a little hemming and
stuttering, he managed to sputter out an, "Um..."

"Well?" Kei pressed, quite ready to smack him in order to get the answer.

"She's getting breasts, okay?" Jessie hissed, his face turning a shade of
red. "There, I said it. You happy now?"

For once, Kei was caught by surprise.

She could only blink at the cadet in front of her.

Jessie was still visibly uncomfortable about the whole matter, but pressed
on regardless. "Look, Quistis is going to need some kind of bra, and the only
experience I have is in taking them off--and that's bloody hard to do as it
is!"

Kei suppressed the urge to really smack Jessie, but he had a disturbingly
valid point. Quistis was on the verge of puberty, and her body would start
going through a lot of physical changes. She was already starting a noticeable
growth spurt. Guaranteed the men she hung out with wouldn't know the first
thing about how to handle this. Jessie's flustered state only served to further
prove the point.

Now it looked like she was getting stuck with the 'job' of guiding Quistis
into womanhood.

"So why come to me?" Kei asked. "Why not go to Skye? She is Quistis'
roommate after all."

"Because I'm having a hard enough time with you as it is," Jessie said,
getting more exasperated with the entire discussion as time went on. "I know
you a little better thanks to Eugene, but I've barely even talked to Skye. At
least with you, I relatively know where I stand."

And currently it felt like it was in deep shit.

Against her better wishes, Kei agreed to quietly take care of the matter.
A very relieved Jessie bowed slightly to her and then quickly left the Library.

Kei shook her head, wondering what she had gotten herself into. Xu would
be better equipped to handle things like this. Hell, even as a child Kei had to
be physically forced into the traditional female dress of the Anshin (cohesion
wasn't nearly enough). And she never went for the dress styles that were common
in this part of the world. In fact, she was so set against the idea that she'd
rather walk around naked first.



"C'mon Quistis, we're going to town." Kei tried to sound enthused by the
prospect, but it came out forced. She'd rather spend the day fighting Grats
barehanded than take Quistis to Balamb for a shopping trip, but it had to be
done.

Quistis didn't argue the unannounced trip. She had been looking for
something to do. She was ahead in her studies and had planned on wasting the
rest day away by playing Triple Triad. It was strange for Kei to seek her out.
Her curiosity was piqued as to what prompted it.

As it turned out, Kei had signed a jeep out for their excursion. Quistis
enjoyed the ride, letting the wind play with her hair. The best part about this
was knowing that she didn't have to worry about wearing her glasses; they would
only get in the way.

Kei glanced over to the pre-teen sitting next to her. Now that it was
brought to her attention, she could see the subtle curves beginning to
distinguish themselves from the shapelessness of childhood. Quistis would be
beautiful once she matured, there was no doubt of that in Kei's mind. She
couldn't mess today up, not if she was going to show the girl the joys of being
a woman... at least, that's the impression Xu gave.

It took her by surprise when Quistis readily agreed to go to Balamb with
her alone. Had a bond between them formed after their Fire Cavern adventure?
No, at best Kei was a shallow replacement for her cousin. If anything, Quistis
was extending some of the trust she granted Xu to her.

Such a trusting child...

"What are we doing today?" Quistis asked once Kei had found a place to
park.

Kei made a show of wrinkling her brow as she considered it. "We should
probably start with some clothes shopping," she suggested.

"Clothes shopping?" the younger asked. Kei simply nodded and began walking
towards downtown Balamb where there were plenty of shops clustered together. It
might be possible to get everything done there without having to leave the
immediate area.

Neither of them wore any clothing that identified them as being from the
Garden. Kei wore a pair of faded blue jeans and a white tee shirt. A stylish
jacket was worn overtop the shirt to add a bit of flavor to the outfit. Quistis
watched her curiously as she brushed her hair back with her left hand and ran
it down her neck.

Kei had dryly suggested that Quistis try wearing something other than a
uniform when they went to town. Quistis wasn't as obsessive about keeping her
nice clothes nice as Xu was, after all. This suggestion demonstrated Quistis'
plight quite plainly. She'd grown so much that none of her civilian clothes fit
her properly. Buying something that was her size would be a top priority.

The first shop they went in was one of the larger clothing outlets in
Balamb. Kei frowned slightly then stood up on her tiptoes to scan the room for
the department she wanted.

"Ah, follow me," Kei told her companion. They went to the back of the
store, which was sectioned off from everything else. It was the undergarment
department.

Quistis flushed slightly as she turned her eyes away from the various
styles of panties and bras on display. Kei took no notice of this and continued
even further into the depths with her in tow. Stopping in front of one rack,
Kei examined the items it held until finding one that matched what she was
searching for and pulled it out.

"Here, try this training bra on and tell me if it's loose," she
instructed.

Quistis shuffled even more and turned away with the bra held awkwardly in
her grasp.

Kei folded her arms across her chest with annoyance. "It's not going to
eat you. There's no doubt that you're going to get bigger; you'll grow into it.
We need to know what size to start off with."

Quistis flushed even more. "You didn't tell me that we came to Balamb for
this," she whispered harshly. Why did she feel so embarrassed all of a sudden?
She'd undressed in the locker room with other girls around plenty of times. But
her body was *changing*, she could see it as much as she could feel it. It made
her feel awkward, ungainly, and equally embarrassed when her classmates noticed
the differences.

The SeeD's stance softened. "I'm sorry. You'll feel better about this trip
and about yourself by the end of today, I promise."

Quistis' eyes met her own. They clearly said that she shouldn't promise
things that she couldn't deliver. Kei put a hand on her shoulder and gave it a
small squeeze. "Trust me, Quistis."

The girl looked down at the bra still clinched in her fist. Kei had asked
that same thing in the Fire Cavern and hadn't failed her then. "Okay..."

Abruptly a saleswoman conveniently presented herself to show Quistis to a
changing room. Kei continued to politely glance through the various items
available for purchase.



While Quistis received some impromptu (and much needed) instruction from
the saleswoman, Kei had little else to do. She wanted to stay close to Quistis
just as a precaution, but in a section like this there wasn't much to browse
that could snag her interest.

Something else caught Kei's eye, however: namely a cute girl looking at
some lingerie that left very little to the imagination. Kei's imagination went
places it shouldn't before she gave herself a mental shake. 'I'm here to help
Quistis, not go cruising for chicks,' she scolded herself firmly.



As Quistis learned how to put on and wear her training bra, the saleswoman
took a brief moment to glance over at Kei. She watched the young man that had
brought the girl in the changing room into the store. His selection for
training bras had been several sizes too large for the girl. At least he wasn't
shying away from the subject as she had seen many fathers do. Odd that there
was very little resemblance between the girl and the young man. It shouldn't
surprise her though. After the war, the broken shards of many families were
reformed into a new whole. The girl having a loving father figure was all that
really mattered.



Nearly an hour passed while Kei waited. The saleswoman took it upon
herself to help Quistis find something that was appropriate. She then went the
even further by explaining some of the physical changes Quistis was going to
experience in the upcoming months. For that, Kei was grateful.

Putting the bill on the Garden's account, Kei paid for the bras and then
held onto the bag as she and Quistis left the store. They wandered around the
arcade area, doing a bit of window browsing before they hit the next store.

Kei slowed down as she peered into the Weapon Smith's shop window. There
was a finely crafted blade sitting on display. Quistis gave her hand a small
tug to keep her moving and Kei whimpered on the inside. She wanted to admire
the weapons, not go clothes shopping.

By late morning Quistis' wardrobe had been somewhat replenished, though
Kei had admittedly been of little help when it came to seeing what sort of
typically female clothes best suited Quistis. The cadet seemed to take it in
stride, and at the store had paraded around in a very pretty dress like she was
in a fashion show.

Even though it cost more than Kei would have preferred, she still bought
it for Quistis. Balamb would pick up the tab. And Kei dared someone to try and
have Quistis return the dress after seeing the smile on her face as she tried
the gown on for the first time.

Kei was ready to call it a day and return to the Garden when Quistis began
to ask her something.

"Kei?" Quistis shuffled along the sidewalk with her bag of clothes held in
front of her.

"Hum?" the SeeD asked. Kei glanced at her watch and noticed that lunch
time was fast approaching, but they'd eaten a late breakfast. Quistis shouldn't
be hungry just yet.

Quistis stopped walking. "Could I, um..." Shuffle. "I'd like to..."
Squirm. Quistis blushed and stared down at her toes.

'She's picking up Jessie's bad habits,' Kei thought darkly.

"What is it, Quistis?" she asked gently. Different people required
different approaches to drag answers out of them. Smacking Quistis around
wouldn't have nearly the effect that it did on Jessie, nor would she want to
face the wrath of Xu for doing such a thing.

"I'd like to get my ears pierced," she said in a barely audible whisper.

Kei rocked back on her heels. 'Well, well, if this isn't a surprise. What
to do?' She smirked and began walking again.

"Let me ask you something first," she drawled. "Why do you want to?"

Quistis blinked, then quickly caught up to the SeeD. "Why? Um... because
it's what girls do."

"Not Xu," Kei pointed out.

"Ah..." Quistis bit down on her lower lip as she tried to come up with
another reason. "Because I want to."

"Why?"

The girl scowled, her forehead furrowing in thought. She didn't know why.

"Did you know that in some parts of Winhill babes have their ears pierced
with a needle no more than a year after birth?" Quistis shook her head. "Body
piercing isn't something that the Anshin practice at all. That's why Xu doesn't
have hers pierced. Point in fact, some cultures view it as a rite of passage
for womanhood."

Quistis continued to follow her with a look of polite interest. Kei had
her hooked now; curious to know where she was going with this. "What culture is
that?"

"Yours, Quistis," Kei dug her hands into her pocket and laughed at the
startled expression on the cadet's face. Balamb Garden was such a melding pot
of ideas and people that Quistis often forgot the differences in her friends'
backgrounds. Or that her homeland was different than theirs. To her, they were
all from Balamb.

"So I guess that the real question is: are you ready to become a woman?"
Kei peered at her through narrowed eyes.

Quistis was visibly startled by this turn of events. She thought they were
just going clothes shopping. The prospect of facing this stage in her growth
was unexpected, but at the same time delightfully frightening. She wanted be an
adult. She wanted to be a SeeD.

"I'm ready," she answered with less resolve than she was feeling. Why did
her voice have to crack? Was it because of the fear that was balled up in her
stomach all of a sudden? Now was the time to prove that she was ready to be a
woman.

Kei noticed the cracking of her voice, but said nothing. They continued
walking as the SeeD lead the way. "It hurts, you do realize. Not as much as
some things--like a beating delivered by Xu after she's discovered that you've
eaten the last apple around for kilometers. But still, it isn't a pinch on the
arm either."

Quistis refrained from laughing at the voice of experience. She couldn't
imagine Xu becoming upset over an apple unless Kei had done something to
provoke her to that point. Logic itself said that pain would be involved. The
act involved forcing a foreign object through sensitive flesh. Logic couldn't
justify all of this, but it could certainly try.

"You're actually getting off pretty easy. Thank goodness you weren't born
Anshin," Kei nodded her head firmly.

"Why's that?" she asked. Xu never spoke this much about her homeland.
Quistis was glad that Kei was in the talkative mood. Admittedly, she'd gone
through every book in the Library that even mentioned Centra with hopes of
learning more about the place Xu was from. There was a lot of ancient history.
Considering that it was the 'birthplace' of modern civilization before the
monsters drove people to the continents of Galbadia and Esthar, that was to be
expected. But there wasn't much information to be found covering the last 70
years or so. Modern history of the Centra continent was a completely blank
slate.

"Ask Xu." Kei shook her head with bemusement then added, "I never grew
up."

Quistis wasn't sure how to take that, so she tucked it away for later
consideration.

The shop Kei led them into was a small one. A matronly looking woman stood
behind a glass counter that held all sorts of jewelry and makeup.

Kei nudged Quistis forward. "You should ask her about makeup as well," she
suggested. The woman smiled kindly at Quistis and began to speak about what
shades would go best with her fair skin. Quistis absorbed the lesson on colors
as Kei patiently stood back and watched.

'This is going better than I expected,' she thought smugly. At this rate,
she could squirm out of nearly every 'lesson' Quistis needed. She already
planned on saddling Kadowaki with explaining the changes Quistis' body would be
going through in the upcoming years. Boys wouldn't become much of an issue
(through either Quistis' disinterest or Kei's discouragement of guys on the
prowl) until Xu returned. Once her cousin was back, she could explain the finer
points of courtship.

Quistis abruptly turned around to ask Kei a question, breaking her free of
her private thoughts. "Do you wear makeup?"

Kei blanched. "No."

"Why not?"

'Because it's stupid,' Kei thought silently before coming up with a better
answer. "It's not the Anshin way."

"But doesn't Xu...?"

"......"

Quistis had her there. Though she got only a half point since her cousin
was rather reserved about it. Xu only bothered to put light makeup on when she
knew she wasn't going to be training that day.

Kei jutted her chin towards the woman at the counter, trying to distract
Quistis from that line of questioning. "Get what answers you can. You'll learn
more from her than from me."

That was the truth put bluntly. The two spoke for what seemed like forever
about things that held no interest for Kei. She amused herself by looking at
the items in the glass cases lining the shop walls, but that grew tiresome
before long. So she stood back with her arms crossed and waited for the girl
talk to subside. She'd nearly lulled herself into a standing sleep when the
woman behind the counter called for her to come over.

"You're her guardian?" She asked.

"One of them. It takes a Garden to raise a SeeD, you know." She smirked at
her own pun. The woman smiled hesitantly, moving past the awkward pause that
followed.

"Sign here," she pushed some papers across the counter, release forms and
the like. Kei glanced over at Quistis to see if her nerve had dissolved. From
the look on her face, it hadn't. Kei signed the papers after giving her
companion one more, long look. Quistis returned her gaze with her shoulders
back and her head held high.

She was scared shitless.

While the woman worked, Kei considered how it could be worse. The process
was a refined one that reduced the discomfort involved to a minimum. After the
ear was pierced a Cure spell was cast with the stud still in place. This sped
along the scaring process and the holes were healed almost immediately.

Kei shook her head mentally while thinking of how the Anshin would
complicate the process if they practiced it. Their stubborn belief that most
wounds should be healed naturally over time would only increase the chance of
infection and make the person's ears ache for days (if not weeks) afterwards.
It was stupid. Then again, they were stupid, so it's for the better that they
never picked up the practice.

To her credit, Quistis didn't so much as flinch. Not that Kei expected her
to. By now Garden training had significantly increased her pain threshold.
She'd faced Grats, Bombs, Buels, and the Guardian Force Ifrit--and survived.
This was child's play for her.

It was time to acknowledge that she'd grown up.

Quistis tried not to touch the studs in her ears. The unusual weight and
slight sting were sensations that she would quickly become accustomed to, but
it was tempting to fiddle until the newness wore off. Kei chuckled lightly as
she guided her charge to their next stop. There wasn't much more left for them
to do in Balamb and they still had yet to visit Kadowaki today.



Jessie was seated on the floor his back against the wall and his arms
propped up on his knees. Next to him, LeVar was just as anxious as he leaned
against the wall. From their vantage point, they could see the Infirmary door
down the hallway.

Earlier on in the day, they had discovered that Quistis was strangely
absent from all her usual haunts. A few choice inquiries clued them in that Kei
had taken Quistis out for the day. Given Jessie's recent conversation with Kei,
it wasn't hard to guess why.

Their own academic obligations had prevented either of them from going to
Balamb and shadowing Kei. That, and the fact that the SeeD would surely notice
being followed by two amateurs. Jessie and LeVar liked their internal organs
right where they were. So both cadets had simply sulked around the Garden until
they learned Kei and Quistis had returned.

The trail of witnesses ended at the Infirmary.

"So, you still think Kei will pull it off after all?" LeVar asked.

Jessie could only shrug. "I haven't the slightest idea. This is the first
time I've actually made a bet where I didn't know the odds. This could go
either way."

LeVar nodded slightly, still focused on the closed Infirmary door. "You
backing out, then?"

"Hell no!" Jessie snapped, jumping to his feet. "You know me: when I'm in,
I'm in 'til the end. We've got twenty gil riding on this."

LeVar winced, checking the corridor to make sure no one else was around to
hear them. "Keep it down a little, will you?" he hissed to his roommate. "If
Kei finds out we're betting on how she does with... explaining things to
Quistis, not even Cid will be able to find our bodies."

"I still think we could have had an underground pool going with the
Trepies," Jessie argued.

"You want to risk that much of a leak?"

"Nah. That gives Kei more bodies to hide. With any luck, when she maims
everyone else, that'll give me sufficient time to escape to someplace a little
more inviting. Like Galbadia Garden."

LeVar abruptly motioned for silence as the door to the Infirmary opened.
Kei and Quistis stepped out.

"Thank you for your time, Doctor," Kei said, warmly shaking Kadowaki's
hand. "It was good of you to help out."

"That's two you owe me," the Doctor stated.

A smirk tugged at the SeeD's lips. "When Quistis graduates, we'll call it
even."

LeVar and Jessie quickly ducked around the corner to avoid being seen. The
two females went the opposite way down the corridor, so the guys didn't have to
scamper off and find a new hiding place.

Jessie was pouting in the aftermath. "No fair," he muttered to LeVar. "Kei
cheated! She let everyone else tell Quistis about... maturity. "

"And that's twenty gil you owe me," LeVar added with a smirk. "Told you
she'd get it done one way or the other."

"If you had seen her reaction when I told her about Quistis needing a
training bra, you'd have placed your bet with me," Jessie said dryly. His eyes
narrowed as he saw LeVar abruptly chuckle. "And what's so funny?"

LeVar reached into one of his pockets and pulled out a single gil coin. He
handed it over to Jessie. Upon a quick examination of the coin, Jessie's eyes
widened. He glared at LeVar.

"You used a two-headed coin on me, you bastard?! I nearly wet myself when
I had to approach Kei!" He crossed his arms over his chest and deliberately
turned away from his roommate. "As compensation for my mental anguish, I demand
that we call this bet a draw."

"Suit yourself," LeVar replied.

Sure it meant not being able to collect another twenty gil from his
friend, but the look on Jessie's face before and after his talk with Kei had
been so worth it.



By the end of the year, Kei had become a familiar face among Quistis' core
group of friends. Granted there was some obvious distance (not to mention
tension) between Kei, and LeVar and Jessie. But that was to be expected between
actual SeeDs and SeeD cadets. Quistis enjoyed having another female to talk to;
Skye was frequenting their dorm room less and less. Quistis usually saw Skye
when the elder cadet was sleeping.

In fact, it took quite a bit of effort on Quistis' part to find one of
Skye's studying hangouts. There was something she wanted to ask the older
cadet and had finally built up the nerve to approach her. Quistis wasn't a
meek person by nature, but some subjects were more painful than others were...

Upon seeing Quistis home in on her, Skye stacked up the books next to her
on the bench to make room for Quistis. There were so many benches throughout
the Garden that Skye could take up an entire one and not feel guilty for
monopolizing it.

"What's up?" Skye asked.

Quistis looked at her hands that were folded tightly on her lap. Now that
she was here, her resolve was wavering. Did she want to know that bad..?
"Please tell me about home."

Skye gave her a puzzled look. "Huh?"

"Tell me about Cottage Grove."

"Oh," Skye breathed softly. After their first encounter, she made it a
point to never mention their hometown in front of Quistis. And until now,
Quistis had shown no interest in having the status quo change.

Quistis understood Skye's hesitation. She probably didn't even know where
to start. "Is it nice there?" She prompted.

"Eh... Yeah. Lake Obel is beautiful during the summer. There's a
festival held at the lake's shore every year. Everyone in the village goes to
it, even the old grannies whom you never see leave their porches." Skye
abruptly closed her mouth. Talking about the lake where Quistis' parents died
in such fond terms probably wasn't a good idea.

"How many people live there?"

"I don't know exactly. Maybe a couple hundred? The Mayor could give you
the exact count. Or the lady at the general store, she knows all the gossip
and whatnot."

"Too small of a village for you?"

Skye smiled slightly and nodded. "Too slow. It'd be a nice place to
retire or raise kids, but it's no fun for people our age.

"Now let me ask you a question. Why are you curious all of a sudden?"

Quistis bowed her head. "I don't remember it, not even the lake.
Probably because I was so young when I went to the orphanage. I wanted to know
what it was like there."

"Oh."

They sat in silence for several minutes before Quistis got up and walked
away. Skye watched her go with an odd feeling of sadness. It must be horrible
to not remember where you're from.



It was in early December that Jessie invited Quistis to join his family
for the winter break. Beforehand he brought the idea to Kei, who needed a
little cajoling (and a lot of nerve from Jessie) to finally give her approval.
It only came when Jessie playfully said that if Kei was that protective she
could come along with Quistis.

Turned out she agreed to those terms.

Jessie hadn't expected that, but the SeeD had called his bluff. And he
really did want for Quistis to get out from Balamb and see a little of the
world during her break. Jessie also managed to recover some of his pride by
telling Kei that he could also provide travel fare for all three of them.

"It's my invitation," he said as he explained his logic. "If you can't get
there on your own, it's my duty to escort you there myself."

The location of Jessie's hometown was in the Wilburn Hill region,
southwest of Deling City. The day after the winter break began, the three took
a train heading to Deling City. Jessie also took some time to show them around
the city.

Quistis felt strange as she was escorted through part of the downtown
core. This was the place where she had spent some of her childhood before going
to Balamb Garden. Scattered memories seemed to be lurking everywhere. But
everything she looked at seemed a little smaller than she remembered.

"How are you going to get to Wilburn Hill?" Kei demanded evenly as Jessie
led them into a small building. From the start he had only said 'Trust me!'
when it came to the travel arrangements. So far he had come through, but Kei
didn't like not having control of a situation.

There was no train that they could take to the plateaus, and renting a car
in Deling City would be costly. If he said they were going to walk or
hitchhike, she'd slug him on the spot.

"Afternoon!" Jessie called loudly, waving to the man behind the desk like
they were best friends. "de Bono, it's been a while!"

The man in question was tall and thin, and looked slightly cadaverous with
his pale, gaunt face. He broke out into a broad, toothy grin when he saw
Jessie. "Damn, you mean they still haven't kicked your sorry ass out of the
Garden yet?"

Jessie leaned on the counter as the two guys shook hands. "It's all a
matter of making sure you never get caught."

Obviously old friends, Jessie took some time catching up on recent events
with de Bono. He also introduced Quistis and Kei. de Bono looked Kei up and
down with a lopsided grin on his face.

"Interesting pick," he remarked to Jessie. "I take it you're going for
stamina this time around."

Quistis didn't get the joke.

Kei wasn't sure if she did either.

But Jessie's eyes widened, and he coughed to divert everyone's attention
from the remark. "The car ready?" he asked.

"Ah, yes," de Bono said, briskly walking around back. He returned a few
moments later with a set of keys and an ID pass. "The usual red tape applies,
Jessie. Present the ID to the officer in the lot and you can take your car."

Jessie grinned as he spun the keys around his index finger. "Pleasure
doing business with ya." He glanced over at Kei. "I do this every break, so I
know the employees rather well."

"Isn't it expensive to rent a car for the break?" Quistis had to ask.

"Nah," Jessie said, waving her worries aside. "This isn't a rental place;
it's a safe deposit lot for cars. My dad does a lot of business in Deling City,
so he gets dropped off here and then takes the car out for however long his
business trips are."

Kei gave him a curious look as they headed out back to the car. The
vehicle in question was very nice. While it wasn't a luxury car, it was built
for durability and strength. It resembled a cross between Galbadian military
jeeps and a small tank. The paint job was black, and inside had a surprisingly
large amount of room. "It's called a hummer," Jessie supplied helpfully as
Quistis was at a loss as to what to call the small, cannonless tank.

Even at their departure from Deling City, Quistis could see the ominous
outlines of the plateaus known as Wilburn Hill. This was also the name of the
town and region, though she wasn't exactly sure why. Wilburn Hill was more
referring to the base of the cliffs rather than the cliffs themselves.

"It's kinda funny when you think about it," Jessie remarked as they drove
along down the main road. "The entire area that isn't surrounded by ocean is
surrounded by the Great Plains of Galbadia. The cliffs are the only real
attraction around here."

One of the main roads that criss-crossed wasn't too far away from the
mouth of the valley the town of Wilburn resided in. The distance might have
been around fifteen kilometers.

'Double that distance and you're at the Galbadia Missile Base,' Kei
thought ruefully. Ever since they had been in Deling City, it had taken a lot
of effort on her part to not dwell on all the problems with Galbadia. She had
wished to visit Xu, but her obligations to Quistis came first. Besides, Quistis
seemed thrilled to learn that Kei was coming along on the trip.

She doubted Quistis knew how much pulling Jessie had to do to get either
of them to join him in the first place.

The distinguishing feature of Wilburn Hill was that it was surrounded on
three sides by towering cliffs, making it resemble a cubbyhole. The cliffs on
two sides led straight into the ocean... once you actually got over them. The
vertical ascent was daunting, and no doubt provided a number of thrill seekers
and adrenaline junkies a rush to scale the height.

As she sat in the passenger seat, staring out at the landscape swiftly
passing them by, Quistis noticed how everything around here was low grass and
dirt. There were no forests, and it didn't look like they would be near a large
river or lake--or even the ocean. It was definitely different from the Balamb
continent.

They were fast approaching an area where the land started to noticeably
drop in altitude. Or at least one part of it did. A shadow fell over the
vehicle as it followed its course towards the base of the steep cliffs. As far
as Quistis could tell, they were being swallowed up on all three sides.

Up ahead loomed the town of Wilburn. It had many different levels, a
majority of the houses and buildings fitting the landscape rather than altering
the landscape to fit the town. Jessie gave them a brief driving tour before
heading over to his house.

"Well, here we are," Jessie announced, pulling the hummer in front of a
rather impressive and expensive home. There were at least two floors that could
be seen, as well as a large front garden full of flowers, trees and fountains.
Everything was enclosed with a large iron wrought gate that swung upon for
them.

Jessie parked the hummer next to three other vehicles and everyone got
out. SeeD training had conditioned all of them to pack lightly; only Jessie had
an extra duffel bag. He told Quistis that it contained peace offerings to
appease his siblings.

Kei tried to mask her confusion as she looked up at the grand manor. She
would have never imagined someone like him to live in a place this luxurious.

"I know what you're thinking," Jessie remarked, looking up at the house
himself. Ensuring neither one had to make eye contact gave Kei the dignity of
not having to look at his quiet smirk. "'If he's this loaded, why is he in a
Garden?'"

Jessie shrugged at the question. "My dad runs a mining operation that
extracts ore on one side of the cliffs. Both he and my mother have supported my
petition to be a SeeD from the start."

"So why did you want to be a SeeD in the first place?" Quistis asked.

Jessie took a deep breath and rang the doorbell. "Fact is, when you have
four younger sisters, you want to get out of the house as fast as you can."

The front door was opened shortly after, and a large man who looked like
an older version of Jessie stepped out. His beaming smile was unmistakable as
he hoisted his son off the ground in a fierce bear hug. "Good to have you back,
Jessie!" he exclaimed through parental laughter.

Jessie's mother came outside, wiping her hands clean on an apron. Since
Jessie was currently getting the life squeezed out of him, Kei and Quistis were
the first people she saw. "Ah, so our guests have arrived."

Jessie's father grinned and playfully ribbed his son. "I see you've
managed to snag a SeeD, no less. Impressive."

Kei could barely contain the look of stunned disbelief on her face. Forget
the fact that for once she wasn't mistaken as a guy--but to be considered
Jessie's girlfriend!

Jessie blanched and vehemently shook his head. "Um, Dad, she's not my
girlfriend."

Upon hearing that, Jessie's mother leaned forward and gave Quistis a quick
appraisal. "You're choosing them rather young, aren't you?"

It was Quistis' turn to look stunned.

"Mom!" Jessie exclaimed, trying to keep his face from going from white to
bright red. "That's Quistis! She's the one I've been writing to you guys
about!"

At that, his mother beamed at Quistis. She patted the cadet's blonde hair
fondly. "So you're the little prodigy our Jessie admires? It's an honour to
have you--both of you, to our home."

Kei tried to remain more stoic, though maintaining her poker face around
this crew would prove to be more difficult than she first expected.

"No girlfriend this time?" Jessie's father sighed and shrugged his
shoulders. "I suppose there's a first time for everything."

"He's always brought a ladyfriend to our house during the break," his
mother explained to Quistis and Kei, much to her son's embarrassed dismay.
"You're the first two who've been just friends."

One of Kei's eyebrows was raised; so that's what de Bono had been
referring to. Not that she was thrilled with being considered a conquest of
sorts.

Jessie groaned, fighting the urge to go around back and kill himself (thus
saving Kei the trouble later). At this rate, he'd be lucky to have either of
them consider him a friend by the end of the day.



Quistis met Jessie's sisters inside, and rambunctious didn't even begin to
describe them. The eldest, Kara, was her age. Next came eleven year-old Cassy,
followed by Ashelyn, who was nine. Naria was the youngest at five.

"It's like an army of female Jessie's," Kei muttered as she was swamped
with adoring girls who had never been this close to an actual SeeD before.

Both of them were asked a lot of questions by the sisters, mainly about
what life in Balamb Garden was like. Kei got a lot of the harder questions,
such as 'Are you going to marry my brother?' She was beginning to wonder if
Jessie didn't bring all his girlfriends here to have them break up with him;
being subjected to this family gauntlet was an exhausting and embarrassing
ordeal.

Dinner didn't prove to be a welcomed relief either.

After washing up from their travel, Kei walked into the dining room ready
to eat.

"Oh, you're seat is over there," Jessie's mother said, indicating the far
end of the table. "That way you and Jessie can sit next to each other."

Already in his own seat--but not having realized that this was the reason
behind it--Jessie rolled his eyes. "Mom, I'm training to be a SeeD. You can't
have high hopes that I'll settle down soon, because that's something SeeDs just
don't do."

Quistis couldn't stop giggling at Jessie's growing exasperation with his
family. She had never thought it would be this fun! She had been seated next to
Kara, and they both thoroughly enjoyed Jessie squirming in his chair.

"Mom, give it a rest," Jessie pled as Kei grudgingly sat down next to him.
"I bring a female friend to the house and you automatically assume I'm dating
her."

"In the past you always have been dating them," his mother plainly
replied.

Jessie groaned, his head dropping onto the table. "For the last time," he
lamented. "Kei and I are not an item! We never will be! She's a lesbian!"

He abruptly stifled a startled cry as Kei dug the heel of her boot into
his toes. Ideally, his rather tactless remark would get his family to back
down--but it was still a tactless remark that demanded retribution.

Ashelyn and Naria, being the youngest and most precocious of the girls,
also happened to be the most relentless. Ashelyn leaned forward, staring
sternly at Kei. Kei had to lean back, slightly abashed at being scrutinized so
thoroughly by someone so young.

"No one this beautiful can be a lesbian," Ashelyn stated, nodding with
approval to herself. "You're just trying to cover for her." With that she
turned her head and called out into the living room, "Dad, I think they might
be serious! Jessie could be proposing to her sometime this week!"

Kei's head joined Jessie's on the table.



Later on in the evening, once all the major questions had been asked and
answered, the three youngest girls had all been put to bed. With his parents
out for a night on the town (though Kei had dark suspicions as to their
ulterior motives for conveniently "leaving" her and Jessie alone), the three
travelers relaxed after their long journey.

Jessie challenged Quistis to a video game. She shyly admitted she had
never played one before, much to Jessie's horror.

"Even Kara here has played all the games in my collection at least three
times," he stated emphatically, gesturing to his sister.

"Video games are for small boys who refuse to grow up," Kei huffed,
reclining on the family room couch and leafing through a magazine that had been
lying around.

Jessie remained unfazed by her deliberate barb. "Come on, what pride are
you going to lose? Afraid that while you can clobber me in real life, you can't
clobber me in a virtual fight?"

Kei slowly turned to him with a slow-burning glare.

She had taken the bait.

"Okay, if you're that bent on getting hammered," she said, tossing the
magazine aside.

Jessie chuckled and handed her a controller. He tossed in one of the game
discs and started up the machine. The player directory came on, and Jessie
immediately selected an old, short man with a long beard (who, when the fight
began, swayed like he was quite thoroughly drunk). Kei opted for a cute girl
with black pigtails and a sky blue cheongsam.

An hour and several consecutive defeats later, Jessie ruefully handed his
player over to Kara. She actually proved to be a challenge for Kei. In fact,
Kei found herself strangely addicted to the fighting game. Maybe when she was
back in Balamb, she'd use her spare gil to buy a system.

Quistis never did play that night, but she certainly had fun watching the
dismay on Jessie's face grow with each loss. It was also intriguing to watch
all the fighting moves and combinations the various players used. She wondered
how many of the SeeDs at the Garden could fight like this? She was certain
that not many could with this level of skill.

Around midnight they called it an evening and retired to their rooms.

"Jessie certainly has... a colourful family," Quistis said as she and Kei
bedded down for the night. The guest room was surprisingly large, and had two
single beds in it.

Kei nodded to herself, having been progressively disgruntled by their
behaviour. She was still trying to figure out just how someone as little as
Ashelyn knew what a lesbian was. Suddenly Jessie's personality made perfect
sense--not to mention his desire to get into SeeD as soon as possible.



The winter break passed by too quickly for Quistis, who was thoroughly
enjoying the change of scenery. She had been around a lot of kids her own age
when she was in the orphanage, but her advanced skills always left her with
older peers at Balamb. It was nice to be able to talk to girls her own age...
even if they were constantly drilling her about how close Jessie and Kei were.

Whenever he could, Jessie would take them out hiking for the day and show
them around the area. Kei ribbed him that he was doing it strictly to escape
the family; Jessie said nothing in response. There was a special lift that
could take the trio from the base to the top of the cliffs, and from there they
had the freedom to wander about as they pleased. The heights of the plateaus
were flat and sandy. Not much to look at unless you gazed out into the distance
and saw the sprawling landscape at the base of the cliffs.

The hikes also doubled as practice time: Jessie tried to find as many
monsters for them to battle as he could. Geezards and Anacondaur (located on
the flat top of the cliffs) were in large numbers. A lot of experience and
drawn magic could easily be gained from them.

He and Kei also used the vast open areas for Quistis' casting practice.
She was improving, though not as fast as he knew she could. She was still
playing primarily with low to mid-level magics; Jessie was sure she would have
started mastering high-level casting by now. He shared this fact with Kei and
after studying Quistis she had to agree.

The time in Wilburn Hill wasn't that much a waste of a break, Kei silently
reflected to herself. While Jessie and his family were certainly unique to be
around, she had managed to draw a small horde of Float beads from the roving
Thrustaevis.

A few times Kei took Quistis out privately for some practice sessions with
Ifrit. The GF was becoming quite adept at being there for Quistis' every beck
and call. It had definitely been impressed with her performance in the Fire
Cavern.

It was on their final night with Jessie's family that Quistis admitted
something to Kei.

"I want to be an Instructor when I graduate," she said through the
darkness of their room. She knew Kei was still awake.

"You want to be just like Xu?" Kei inquired carefully. Imitation was the
sincerest form of flattery, but it also had its dangers.

Quistis shook her head, and then chided herself on the fact that in the
dark Kei couldn't have seen the action. "Everyone's done so much for me to grow
and become a SeeD. And now I'm finding myself doing that to more and more of my
friends."

Knowing full well that Quistis couldn't see her, Kei smiled. That had been
the answer she wanted to hear from the young cadet. Kei had noticed how much
time Quistis was starting to spend teaching her various study groups as opposed
to working with them. They were becoming more tutorials than anything else--and
the students involved were noticeably improving.



After the winter break was over, Quistis found herself thrilled to be back
studying in Balamb Garden. The vacation had been fun (at least for her), but
Quistis attacked her classes with renewed vigor. LeVar was more than surprised
at how much she wanted to work through her studies--even if she was
accelerating past all her study groups.

"You really are going all-out on this," LeVar drawled one day as he and
Quistis were walking through the Training Room. It was getting harder for him
to find the time to just hang around with her; his graduation was approaching
in two months, and he was working to finish the last of his prerequisites.

Quistis nodded happily to herself as she glanced around to watch the
various cadets practicing their techniques. "When I was with Jessie, I realized
how much I really missed Balamb Garden."

It wasn't just her friends she missed.

It was everything about the Garden.

Learning was something that came naturally to her. But it was the growing
interaction she had with her fellow cadets that she was really enjoying.
Because of that she discovered that she wanted to be more than just a SeeD. She
wanted to be an Instructor, and help growing cadets reach their full potential.
Just like how everyone at Balamb was helping her in the same way.

Quistis doubted that she could become a weapons instructor, but the
written academics were definitely her forte.

Suddenly the peace of the Training Room was shattered as a male cadet
raced through the doors, leaping hell bent for anywhere but the path of
destruction being carved by a Fire spell that followed him in. Chasing right
after looked to be a doppelganger, trying to use the Fire spell to reduce him
to a charred shadow on the wall.

While Quistis gawked, LeVar calmly stepped back and made sure she did the
same. It was like watching one of Jessie's video games all over again: an
arcade fighter in versus mode. What dumbfounded her was the fact that despite
the vicious battle the two cadets were waging, very little of the Training Room
was being damaged. Almost all the spells were mid-level airborne castings, and
the first cadet always managed to frantically dodge the attack.

"Wh-What are they doing?" she stammered.

LeVar shrugged as if it meant nothing to him. "Their evening routine from
the looks of it: kill each other."

Needless to say, Quistis was stunned at hearing that. "They're trying to
kill each other in a Garden?!" she exclaimed.

The latter cadet unleashed another Fire spell, the one in the lead
bounding in between two startled cadets to take cover. The two bystanders
panicked and immediately threw themselves aside as the Fire spell went off.

"I suppose 'kill' is a rather inaccurate description," LeVar said with a
mild shrug. "'Maim' sounds more like their ultimate goal." He motioned to the
one in the front. "The guy spending most of his time on the run is named Myn.
The one trying to permanently bond him to the wall is his twin sister, Nym."

Upon rolling clear of the Fire blast, Myn retaliated with a Fire spell of
his own--and then lunged for Nym as he brandished some kind of wicked-looking
weapon Quistis had never seen before.

"How can you tell them apart?" Quistis asked, watching in rapt fascination
as Nym ducked back and tried to avoid getting cut apart by her brother.

"I've had a few run-ins with them," LeVar answered. "They transferred here
from Trabia over the break." He pointed to Nym. "If you look closely enough,
you can see her chest."

Quistis blushed a little, but realized LeVar was right. It was slightly
embarrassing to use that as a reference point in telling the difference.

The two continued to viciously duke it out in the middle of the practice
area. Both were completely oblivious to the onlookers. Half of the cadets were
shocked beyond belief. The others--evidently having seen this before--casually
made a point of staying out of the twins' crosshairs.

"They hate each other that much?" Quistis asked, still dumbfounded by
their intense private war.

"Actually," LeVar replied. "From what I hear, they're incredibly close.
You pick a fight with one and the other will jump in to help pound on you."

Quistis puzzled over that point, and then narrowed her eyes as another
spell exploded over Myn's head. Myn then had to scramble out of the path of a
volley of sharpened shuriken darts Nym had launched at him.

"So why are they trying to destroy each other?" she pressed.

LeVar looked back at the battling twins--who were now brandishing their
respective weapons at a near blinding speed. Other cadets were scattering in a
mad attempt to avoid the storm's path. "That? Oh, that's just sibling rivalry."

"......"



"Dammit, Jessie, give me back my tray!" LeVar snapped, racing between--and
sometimes on--the tables. A few students hastily yanked their precious meals
aside to avoid getting a footprint in their mashed potatoes.

Floating just above LeVar's jumping reach, a laughing Jessie continued to
hover through the Cafeteria. "Come on, you're going to be graduating soon. You
should easily be able to jump this high!"

"I hate his stupid Float beads," LeVar muttered as he tried to catch his
breath.

Fortunately, he was vindicated a moment later when Myn threw open the
Cafeteria doors and managed to slam a rather stunned Jessie into the wall.

LeVar shook his head as he returned to the Cafeteria counter to get a
replacement meal for the one that Jessie was now wearing. After getting his
meal he sat down across from Quistis and Skye. Both he and Skye were due to
graduate within a week or so; the written and field tests were all that
remained. Needless to say, LeVar was doing his best to cope with the tension.
And in his own deranged way, Jessie was doing his best to help LeVar out.

Clad in something a little more casual than the cadet uniform, Myn
sauntered into the Cafeteria. He paused momentarily to look back at the dazed
Jessie. With a shrug, he then headed for the Cafeteria line. Upon getting his
meal Myn wandered the Cafeteria in search of a seat.

Quistis couldn't help but watch him move around the tables. She still
recalled how relentless he had been in fighting his sister--but right then he
looked anything but an intense SeeD cadet.

He paused and peered down at the young woman. "Ah, so you're Quistis," he
remarked. "It's not every day I meet a cadet with her own fanclub. Mind if I
join you?"

Quistis shook her head and Myn took a seat next to LeVar.

Myn's light brown hair had a generic cut that would have worked for both
genders, the front bangs on one side of his face reaching down just beyond his
eye. He was out of uniform, wearing a white tee shirt beneath a light blue jean
jacket that was left open. The jean pants he wore were of a similar colour to
his jacket. A strange necklace dangled low from around his neck.

Curiously enough, he was wearing a pair of sunglasses indoors. This unto
itself wasn't that strange--but when he turned his head, Quistis could see that
the top of the frame was curved to shield his eyes even further from the light.

"I hear you're going to be rooming with my sister once Skye here
graduates." He motioned with his fork to Skye, who didn't even look up from her
own meal. "Just a word of warning: Nym corrupted her last roomie thanks to all
her boy-chasing."

Myn's face was suddenly elbow-jabbed into his dinner tray, bits of mashed
potatoes going everywhere. His hands twitched involuntarily for a few seconds.

"What is that supposed to mean?" his twin sister inquire darkly, her elbow
still pressed down on the back of his head.

LeVar, who had leaned back in surprise at the unexpected flurry of potato,
warily looked up to Nym. Nym was incredibly cute, with a vibrant girlish charm
that radiated out from her. But the playful smile on her face seemed to
indicate that she used said charms to get whatever she wanted from everyone
else.

Her hair was the same light brown tint as Myn's, and cut in the same
style. They really could have passed for each other--had it not been for the
fact that Nym wasn't in uniform either. In fact she was dressed in a very
tight, black sleeveless dress that barely stretched halfway down her thighs,
and followed the curves of her body with revealing accuracy.

A cute beret with a SeeD badge was on Nym's head. Quistis wondered where
the elder cadet had gotten that. Maybe it was something Nym had picked up at
Trabia. Or else it was custom made. And just like her brother, Nym was also
wearing a pair of sunglasses whose design matched Myn's.

"You'll have to forgive my brother," Nym stated, moving around the table
to sit on the other side of Quistis. "He only speaks to change the current foot
stuck in his mouth."

"I don't think he'll able to speak, period, with all that potato now
shoved up his nose," Skye idly remarked. Everyone laughed at that, and even
though she didn't join in Skye did have a broad grin on her face.

Myn pushed his face out from his food and did his best to recover whatever
shreds of dignity he had left. Those shreds proved to be an endangered species
as a number of the other male cadets cheered on his sister.

"Hey, Nym!" one upperclassman called out. "Kicking his ass again, are ya?"

"What did he say this time?" the cadet's friend called out.

Myn pouted as he cleaned his face off with a napkin--though he carefully
made sure not to remove his sunglasses. And he definitely tried to ignore Nym
giggling and waving to her adoring public.

"Speaking of human doormats," LeVar quipped, casting a glance over his
shoulder at Jessie.

Jessie groaned as he flopped down next to LeVar, tenderly rubbing his
head. "Ow! That really hurt, Myn. Why'd you have to go and ruin a good prank
like that?"

"Had I known you were going to be floating in front of the door like that,
I would have come in through the window," Myn cleverly retorted, chowing down
on the mashed potatoes he had managed to salvage.

"Um... wouldn't going through the glass like that hurt?" Quistis had to
ask.

Myn froze in mid-chew, slowly turning to Quistis with a betrayed
expression on his face. Even with the sunglasses on, he looked like a startled
puppy dog.

"That's my brother for ya," Nym sighed. "Two neurons short of a synapse."



Later in the week, LeVar and Skye graduated.

Jessie was lamenting the fact that his victim/roommate was now gone, and
he'd have to start from scratch on some new cadet. As it turned out, he was
assigned with Myn as opposed to a new 'sprout', more than likely due to the
fact that Jessie himself was scheduled to graduate right before the spring
break.

On the other hand, Quistis now found herself with someone who was a far
cry from Skye's indifferent disposition. Nym was anything but laidback; as it
turned out she was one of the major links in Balamb Garden's rumour network.
She was also an incredible flirt, and seemed to be exploiting a new male cadet
every week. Not that said male cadets ever seemed to complain about being at
her beck and call. Quistis had never seen so many people cajoled into doing
favours for a single person before.

Dorm life certainly picked up for Quistis with Nym around. Nym was
frequently in their room, as was her twin brother. The two made a point of
dressing differently whenever possible. Casual clothes were worn almost as much
as their cadet uniforms.

"A word of warning," Myn cautioned her as he helped Nym move in. "Nym
snores loudly."

He quickly tipped his head sideways as a shuriken dart buried itself into
the bunk frame next to his face. Quistis, on the other hand, had jumped
considerably high in her chair.

"Spreading rumours about me again, are we?" Nym growled, walking into the
dorm room with a handful of clothes.

"Well, it's the truth!" Myn protested. "I had to grow up sleeping with the
sound of a chainsaw ripping apart a sequoia!"

Nym scowled at her brother. "That was Dad who snored loudly, you twit. Get
your memories straightened out."

Myn paused and searched his mind. "You know, I think you're right," he
said, smiling as if he had just solved a difficult physics problem. The smile
abruptly faded. "Geez, and Dad was that loud even when he was down the hall
from us? No wonder Mom slept in the guest room whenever she could."

He struck Quistis as being a little scatterbrained, but good-humoured
nevertheless.

As she adjusted to the new roommate, Quistis found herself becoming more a
part of Balamb Garden's social activities than ever before. Nym would
frequently throw open the door to their room, and tell Quistis that they were
going out. At first it had thrown Quistis off, but after a few weeks of this
she got used to it. In fact, Quistis enjoyed these spontaneous social flings.

Sometimes they were impromptu Triple Triad tournaments (which she tended
to rank in the top three), and other times they played games in the Quad. One
time it was to sneak around the Garden near lights out in order to help a cadet
find an (unauthorized) pet kitten that had escaped.

Cid found the kitten.

"I trust this is not yours," he said, cradling the kitten in his arms.

Both Nym and Quistis, who had finally located the escaped feline and
chased it down a corridor, came to a dead halt and meekly shook their heads.

"I'm relieved," the Headmaster said, nodding to them. "Now then, before
you two return to your room and hope the Faculty don't catch you past lights
out, would you be so kind as to tell me whose kitten this is?"

He scratched the purring animal on the back of its head, and the sight of
the Headmaster doing this made Quistis wish she could have taken a picture for
Xu.

Nym told Cid who the feline's owner was, and then hastily dragged Quistis
off to their dorm room. As he watched the two young ladies race down the hall
as quietly as they could--which, much to their credit, was almost silent--Cid
couldn't help but smile. Quistis was definitely a different cadet than the one
he had seen a year ago.

Myn and Nym were seen with Quistis a lot, and it seemed that they would be
her new mentors when Jessie graduated. Everything was moving full circle, and
he only had to pull a few strings to see it happen. This was better than having
to orchestrate an entire social life for Quistis.

As for the twins, he had been working on a proposal to have them graduate
as a pair and take missions as a pair as well--yet he intended for them
graduate just as skilled individually as any other SeeD.

Cid chuckled as he lavished more pampering on the purring cat. "And as for
you," he said. "What shall your fate be?"

The kitten licked the back of his offered finger. "Is that so?" He lifted
it between his hands so that he could look the kitten in the eye. "You wandered
onto the Garden grounds and found your way into the hallway. I'll have to see
what I can do about finding you a good home in Balamb."

A purr answered Cid as the kitten was returned to the crook of his arm.
He would have a word with the cadet who gave refuge to the small bundle, but he
wasn't without mercy. A few weeks of dish duty would suffice to remind her of
the Garden's policy concerning pets.



"Why do you both wear those tinted glasses?" Quistis asked one evening as
she tutored the twins. She had seen both Myn and Nym wear their shades
everywhere they went--even to classes--and no one seemed to object, not even
the Faculty. And that was impressive given the Shumi.

"It's a hyper-sensitivity to light," Myn informed her. "Since we're twins,
we both have the same condition. Only in dim settings can we remove our
shades."

He nodded to his sister, who then made sure it was dark enough outside.
Nym then walked over and turned off the light. The room was plunged into
darkness. Under this cover, Myn and Nym felt safe to remove their sunglasses.
Without the shades, both their eyes shimmered like water. Quistis found it
unnerving to have them watch her. She could only see their eyes, but she was
certain they could see every detail in the darkened room. At least their eyes
weren't slitted like a cat's. It would take some time to get used to the fact
that Nym's eyes glowed in the dark.

Quistis also learned about Myn's talisman that he wore even when in
uniform--though it was always tucked beneath his jacket. When she asked about
it, Myn had removed the necklace and let her see it.

"It's made from Lapis Lazuli," he informed her. "It used to be our
mother's, and was going to be given to her first borne child." He grinned at
Nym, who had at the time been reclining on her bunk. "Boy were you a surprise,
Sis!"

Nym stuck out her tongue.

"Since I was the first to come out, it was decided I should get the
necklace," Myn finished. "I guess that technically makes me the older of us."

"Strange how I'm always the one who bosses you around," Nym remarked
aloud.

Quistis smiled, too engrossed in studying the talisman to see Myn deflate
at the accurate retort. Its polished surface was cool against her skin, and
reminded her of Shiva's GF stone. "It's beautiful," she said quietly.

"Most people think it's a figure-eight, but it's not," Myn explained.
"This is the symbol for infinity: two loops with no end and no beginning. Tends
to represent my Sis and me. Two different parts yet still one entity."

"You can stop kissing up to her anytime," Nym dryly remarked.

Myn stiffened, visibly insulted. "Hey, I'm just trying to be nice here!"

"Ha!" his twin retorted. "If you were really being nice, you wouldn't
leave your magazines around. It's a wonder that the Headmaster doesn't think
you live here, since half the stuff that is scattered across the room is
yours."

Myn perked up. "May I?" he asked, a hopeful smile on his face.

Nym bopped him on the head for that. "Idiot!"

But at the very least, he had managed to evoke a laugh from Quistis.



Quistis was moved to a more advanced weaponry class. While she still had
her own private sessions in working with the rante ber gangedug, now she found
herself in a larger class of SeeD cadets. Most of them seemed near twice her
age, and at least a head taller.

It was a little intimidating to stand in their ranks as the Shumi
Instructor explained that each of them had advanced sufficiently enough in
their own weapon to now be challenged by an opponent who used a different
weapon.

Myn was in the class along with her, and was also her first sparring
opponent. Quistis could barely contain her surprise when he revealed his actual
weapon. The first time she had seen him use it, he had been moving too fast for
her to get a good look. Now that she could see it she wished she hadn't. Myn
wielded a pair of scythe-like kusaragi, which were attached at their bases by a
metal chain. It was a wonder he had never injured himself while using them!

But Myn proved to be quite adept and twirling them around his body and
alternating hands. Every now and again he'd shift his head or his hips to
accommodate a change in the direction of the deadly blades. "Come on," he
goaded her. "I may be your roommate's brother, but that doesn't mean I'll be
gentle."

It wasn't as vicious of a jab as it could have been, but it got Quistis
moving. She began to twirl her rante and then stepped towards Myn for the
attack. He in turn waited to defend himself; odds were he wanted to see how
good her physical skills were. Her first swings were easily blocked.

Myn abruptly pushed both kusaragi blades down to the mat as he deflected
another attack, pinning Quistis' whip to the ground. Quistis stumbled forward,
and then Myn charged forward to attack. She hastily twisted her body sideways
as the tip of one kusaragi blade cut through the air next to her.

Myn pivoted his stance, compensating with his brandishing. The next strike
grazed the front of Quistis' training outfit, tearing the fabric apart. Myn
immediately backed down and stopped swinging his chained kusaragi. "Are you
okay?" he asked, quickly signaling to the Shumi.

A quick inspection found that only the top layer had been cut. Quistis'
undershirt and skin were intact--though that still didn't make Myn feel any
better.

"This is sparring," Quistis stated, picking up her rante and swinging it
in preparation to resume their match. "Expect a few cuts and bruises."

"That's just it," Myn replied, taking a deep breath and psyching himself
up for a second round. "My weapon tends to cut deep enough to kill the first
time around."

Now that she was somewhat familiar with his strategies, Quistis made it a
lot harder for him to attack. His added height and weight was her biggest
disadvantage, and he could easily throw her off balance just by pinning her
whip down. But Quistis threw in a variety of twirls and strikes that kept Myn
dodging more than blocking, giving him less chance to pin the rante down.
Attacking him below the waistline made for the best results.

Myn's biggest disadvantage was that Quistis had the greater range with the
rante. For the most part, the closer he got to her, the harder his defensive
blocks had to be. However Quistis couldn't always swing the rante around fast
enough to completely block Myn from advancing. He got some very good swings and
jabs at her.

That still didn't help him when she did a shoulder roll along the mats,
and swung the rante in an upwards arc as she rolled right into a standing
position. Myn got the spiked tip of the rante slashing the back of his hand. He
flinched, and felt the blade of his still-swinging kusaragi cut him on the
cheek. Myn swiftly caught both parts of his weapon to make sure he didn't get
any bloodier than he already was.

Quistis was breathing in deep gasps for air when they finished their
classes for the afternoon. It was surprising how much she was watching and
evaluating his moves based on the video game Jessie had played.

"Good match," Myn said to her as they headed to their respective change
rooms. "Where'd you learn to swing a rante like that?"

Quistis smiled at the memory of Eugene. "A friend introduced me to the
weapon."

"Well, you're good--but still get all the practice you can with this crew.
It doesn't get any easier."

She tipped her head to one side, brushing aside some strands of blond hair
that were clinging to her forehead from the sweat.

"This is only the intermediate weapons class," Myn informed her. "Did you
notice that all of us in there had weapons which had around a two meter range?
There are a lot of weapons out there, and we're just learning how to deal with
those that have about the same range ours does. The advanced class is an
anything-goes melee."

Upon recalling the class, Quistis realized he was right. The only types of
weapons in there had been various polearms, whips and chains, or some weapon
which made use of a chain. There had been no swords, or smaller weapons that
required more intense hand to hand combat.

"Take my sister," he said as an example. "She uses shuriken darts and can
pin any hapless date to the wall in seconds. She has quite the throwing
distance, and those little buggers are a pain to try and deflect--especially
when there are five of them coming all at once. You and I won't be fighting her
for another few years, or unless we're constantly at the top of the class for
the next month."



The June heat beat down on Quistis' brow, but she ignored both the heat
and the sweat trickling down her skin. A spell bead in her hand, she painfully
focused herself on releasing an Ice spell with the desired result: freezing the
rock that stood about twenty paces from her.

She seemed completely oblivious to Jessie (which was just as well, given
her need for complete concentration), who stood behind her a fair distance to
watch. They were just outside Balamb Garden. Even though it was her day off,
Quistis insisted they come out and practice. Jessie could see that the
frustration of not being able to cast as well as she expected to was getting to
the young cadet.

He had learned his Limit about two months ago, making him a candidate for
graduation at the spring break. But even though learning his Limit seemed like
a natural thing, it was aggravating to see Quistis still blocked. He wanted so
much for her to excel at magic--but if she had this much trouble in mid-level
casting, he wasn't sure how well she'd fare in discovering her own Limit Break.

Jessie turned his head as he saw Myn saunter up behind him. He was dressed
like he was heading into town, but got distracted by them.

"How goes the magic show?" Myn inquired with a smile, adjusting the
glasses over his eyes.

Jessie shrugged. "It goes. That's about it."

He sensed the weariness in his roommate's voice. "What's wrong?"

"Quistis is still working on her magic, and her slow progress is
frustrating both of us." Jessie gestured to the rock, which was only half
encased in ice even after considerable effort on Quistis' part. "The first time
she tried a spell bead, she blow half a boulder away. I've tried about
everything I can think of to duplicate that same intense blast from Quistis,
but nothing's really worked. I've tried concentration techniques, breathing
techniques, and even tried to find a Puzzle Stone."

"Puzzle Stone?"

"Don't ask. I never could find the blasted thing. But I've tried different
targets--including myself. But even if her life is in potential danger,
Quistis' magic levels aren't what they should be. Quistis can see the object
she wants to cast her spells on, but nothing happens."

Jessie's lips curled into a scowl. "I don't want to push her even further,
since that will only antagonize us both. But I want to see her get some kind of
breakthrough before I graduate."

Myn nodded in sympathy as he watched Quistis try another bead, this one a
Thunder. "Mind if I have a go at it?" he asked.

"Be my guest," Jessie replied, gesturing to Quistis. "The lady's all
yours."

Quistis was so focused on unleashing the power within the bead that she
nearly shrieked in surprising when Myn tapped her on the shoulder. "Oh, hi
Myn," she said, the dejection in her voice was unable to be hidden.

"Is that it?" Myn pouted with false hurt. "I'd think you'd greet your new
magic instructor with a little more enthusiasm than that."

Quistis looked at him in surprise. "You?"

"Not unless you have a problem with that."

Admittedly, Quistis had no qualms at all. Anything to help her get past
this block.
"Are you sure Jessie's okay with this?" she asked, not wanting
to hurt the feelings of the cadet who had done so much for her spell-casting
abilities.

Myn chuckled as he looked over to Jessie, and then waved at him. "Don't
worry about him. You've got the best magic instructors the boys wing of the
dorms has to offer!"

There seemed to be only one constant in all the techniques Jessie was
trying to make use of; they had Quistis focusing on a mental projection of her
target. Perhaps it was time to try something completely different.

"Stop trying to see your target in your mind," Myn instructed. "Don't even
bother concentrating on that. Instead, I want you to tell me how you're
feeling."

The younger cadet's brow furrowed; evidently Quistis hadn't anticipated
this sort of technique. "What?"

"Take all the emotions you've ever known you had," Myn explained. "Try to
find each one individually, and build them up as much as you can. Take all your
anger, hurt, fear, joy and sadness. Don't express them; just find them."

Not really sure how to do this, Quistis closed her eyes and tried to
'sense' her emotions. Myn helped by closing his own eyes and projecting each
different emotion at Quistis. It took a lot of effort and time but Quistis was
able to use those echoes from Myn to find her own mirroring emotions.

Myn was incredibly patient, and spent the rest of the session letting
Quistis get the hang of how to do this. Just before it was time for dinner, Myn
called an end to their lesson. "We'll do this each day for the next week, just
you and me," he said. "If not outside, then in the training hall or the Quad."

Feeling encouraged by the fact that she had made some form of
progress--even though she hadn't the slightest idea what that progress meant in
connection with her casting, Quistis managed a smile.

"She's making good progress," Myn informed Jessie, letting Quistis walk a
few steps in front of them as they returned to the Garden.

He gave Myn a blank look.

"Quistis is a fast learner. Give me a week to work with her."

Jessie sighed and nodded. "I've done all I can with her. And I need to
concentrate on my graduation exams. Give it your best shot."

Myn made good on his word to help Quistis out every day. The fact that
they had a mutual tie in Nym (and many of the same classes) meant that they
could arrange meeting times easily. Myn tried to schedule in late evening
sessions, when most of the other cadets were not around.

It took three more days before either of them felt confidant that Quistis
had isolated her emotions, and could get a feel for them at a moment's notice.

"Next step," Myn said when he was satisfied Quistis knew how to properly
do it. "Push every last bit of those emotions into the pit of your stomach.
It'll make you feel incredibly uncomfortable, but that's how you know you're
doing it right."

After that session, Quistis felt like she was ready to vomit. The nausea
continued through most of the night, but Myn assured her that it would pass
once she got used to it. There wasn't a need to consult with Doctor Kadowaki.
And he was right: within a few more days, Quistis felt the residual nausea from
her casting sessions slowly wane.

Myn was amazed by how fast Quistis was picking this up. It had taken him
over two weeks of intense training just to figure out how to identify and
amplify his emotions.

When the end of the week came, Myn had Quistis practice outside the Garden
on their off day. "Now comes the fun part," he said, handing Quistis a Thunder
bead. "Take the spell bead, and cast it. But I want you to try and not picture
what will happen beforehand. You need to learn how to keep those emotions
pinned down, and cast at the same time."

That didn't work so well.

Quistis was growing frustrated. She wasn't used to *not* doing mental
projections during a casting, and didn't know how to try any other way.

"I'll need to intervene, I see," Myn said. He gave Quistis a reassuring
smile. "Don't worry. The same thing happened to me." He went in behind Quistis
and gently placed his hand over Quistis' palm. "Don't do anything; what you
need to do is feel what happens."

Myn was the one who used the Thunder bead, and much to Quistis' surprise
it felt like he had psychically cracked the shell of the bead. The spell
contained within roared to life and exploded.

"It seems a little abstract at first," Myn reflected afterwards. "But it's
best to try and work on 'cracking' the bead rather than envisioning an
exploding target. Try to get the magic to erupt rather than the rock. Most
students find it's easier to use the latter, but us mavericks prefer
unconventional methods."

Quistis giggled at being called a maverick.

She liked the term.

An hour of practicing with Scan beads, and some various offensive magics,
proved that Quistis worked far better with this technique. It was a thrill to
feel the magic break free and shoot through her fingers, almost like it was a
liquid. Quistis knew that all she felt was the residual effect; whenever magic
was unleashed, it was instantaneous. Summoning it was what required time.

"Third and final step," Myn announced. "Cast the spell at your target.
When you feel the magic being unleashed, launch all those emotions you have
directly at your target. It'll feel like you're aiming and firing a cannon. And
watch out for the recoil."

Quistis psyched herself up as she looked at her two potential targets.
There was a fair-sized rock on one side, and a small tree on the other. She
decided on the rock, working with the Thunder bead Myn had given her.

At the first tingling she sensed as the bead's magic broke loose, Quistis
narrowed her eyes and worked on her emotions. She felt the pit of her stomach
churn almost in synch with the bead. And then she shattered the bead, throwing
her arm into the air with a loud shout. Both the spell and her pent-up emotions
smashed into each other like two raging rivers meeting into one. The proverbial
floodgate was opened, and the spell shot towards its target.

The rock didn't get hit.

The tree, however, did. It exploded when the Thunder spell veered off from
its intended course and slammed into the tree. A gaping hole was left in the
trunk, tiny flames licking the edges of the bark.

"Wow," Myn remarked, whistling his awe at the power behind Quistis'
casting.

Quistis though was reeling from what had happened. It felt like she had
nearly been catapulted along with the Thunder spell. Myn helped to steady her,
but it still took Quistis a good three or four minutes to regain her sense of
balance.

She pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to get over the throbbing in
her head. Her vision was blurry and she wanted her reading glasses back.
"W-What happened?" Quistis managed to stammer.

"You just got slammed by a power you weren't expecting. But that's
definitely a good sign for a first-timer. You've got some incredible power. Now
we'll have to work on your control of it."

Myn glanced back over at the tree. It was good thing they hadn't tried
this in the Quad; he'd heard from Jessie about what happened the first time.

Once Quistis felt herself again, she studied the result of her unique
training. The young cadet's jaw dropped as she saw the battered tree. "I did
that?"

Myn nodded, grinning. "I'd say you're learning fast. Give yourself a month
of this, and you'll be able to shove a lightening bolt up a T-Rexaur's ass."

While Quistis wasn't so sure about that second part, she was feeling a
great sense of pride and relief. Her block at casting spells was gone; she felt
confident that she could duplicate that particular attack. With the way Myn had
taught her, everything felt comfortably natural. Jessie's method had never felt
right to her, though she didn't have the heart to tell him.

"Where did you learn about that?" Quistis asked once she and Myn had
returned to the Garden. They were lounging in the Quad, waiting for either his
sister to show up or dinner to be served.

Myn sighed as he leaned his back against the table. "In Trabia, my sister
and I were damn near unstoppable--but only when we fought together, or fought
each other. When we were apart, most cadets our age could pick us off pretty
easily. It went on like this for about a year, and everyone was getting
frustrated. The instructors went out of their way, not unlike Jessie, to help
boost our fighting skills. Nym and I even took up extra training sessions.
Nothing worked.

"Then a new instructor came to the Garden, and seemed to recognized
immediately what the problem was. We weren't virtual prodigies like everyone
first thought; it's something to do with a heightened synchronicity because
we're twins. So he had Nym and me change our exercises. We each had individual
lessons with him, and he taught us that technique I had you use."

It certainly worked, Quistis reflected.

Not only for herself, but for the twins as well. Myn wasn't the best
weapons fighter in the class, but he was certainly up there in the top five.
She found it hard to imagine that someone with such a vicious-looking weapon
could be disarmed and defeated.

"About six months after that we each made a breakthrough, our Instructor
recommended that we transfer to Balamb," Myn continued. "He said the Garden's
academic focus would give us equal opportunity to use our magic and our
weaponry. Headmistress Rebecca agreed, and so here we are."

He gestured around the Quad.

"A lot of times, even if I'm just fighting against Nym, I pin up and then
release all my emotions as I attack. It's a great rush, and she usually never
knows what hit her." He winked mischievously.

"Hey, Myn!" his sister suddenly called out. The pair stood up to greet
her, then went to the Cafeteria for a hard-earned meal.



"What's with you?" Kei asked, watching Jessie anxiously pace across the
breezeway. The last time she had seen him this fidgety was when he had roped
her into buying Quistis a training bra. It was quite entertaining watching him
act like a worried child--so long as he didn't have something he was trying to
tell her.

Jessie tried to jam his hands even deeper into his pockets, wondering just
how he had gotten himself into this situation. "Myn said he could get Quistis
past her magic block in a week," he informed Kei. "And he did. I know Nym,
she's going to claim the favour I own Myn for helping out. He'll just shrug it
off and let her do it. I can only fear what she's going to have me do for her."

"I thought you all were doing this for Quistis' benefit."

He nodded. "Naturally. But I personally wanted to see her get over the
block before I graduated. Now I owe Nym a favour for that."

Kei never said it aloud, but she sympathized with the hapless cadet in
front of her. Nym was interesting to be around, but it was like watching a
grown-up Ashelyn at work. And after being with Jessie's family for a few weeks,
Kei felt that no one deserved such a punishment... even if it was Jessie.



Later that night, Jessie met up with Nym at the overlook for the Training
Centre. It was past curfew, and he had enough problems as it was without
worrying about a Faculty member catching him.

Nym giggled as she consulted the chronometer on her wrist. "Ah, right on
time. I like that in a man."

"Aha haaaa... cute," Jessie replied dryly, his hands in his pockets.

Nym feigned hurt and took a small step closer to him. Her hands were
behind her back, and she was leaning forward on her tiptoes as if she were two
years younger than her actual age. "Most of my lackeys like to think so."

"Ease down on the innocence factor, please," Jessie sighed. "I know when
I'm caught. So what do I get to do? Is there a report I need to write for you?
An alibi I need to provide? Or is there a new blouse you want me to buy
from--?"

He never managed to get out another word as Nym swiftly moved forward and
pressed her lips against his. The surprise he wasn't able to vocalize was
registered in his wide eyes. Nym finally broke away from the kiss and then
laughed. It wasn't her patented girlish giggle either; this one was a little
more adult, and a lot more sultry.

Jessie just stared at her like a deer caught in headlights.

"Come here," Nym instructed, starting to unzip her jacket. "We've got
about fifteen minutes before the patrol comes around this way. And you owe me
big."



Quistis was startled from her reading as Nym slipped back into their dorm
room. She looked at her older roommate, and saw something... different in Nym's
pleasant facial expression.

Nym sighed and stretched out her arms. "I think I'm in love," she sighed
to herself.

There was definitely something different about her roommate tonight,
Quistis reasoned. Nym was moving around their room like she was light on her
feet. And her uniform was in slight disarray too. Though Quistis really
couldn't figure out why.

"Could you turn out the lights for me?" Nym asked as she disrobed.

With a sigh, Quistis set Myn's latest issue of Combat King aside, placed
her glasses in its carrying case, and got out from between her sheets.

When Quistis turned the lights out, Nym removed her sunglasses. Even her
shimmering eyes were lit up with some kind of dreamy delight. "G'night,
Quistis," Nym purred as she contentedly curled up in her covers and went to
sleep.

Quistis shook her head and returned to her bed. For all she had learned
since coming to the Garden, there were a lot of things she still didn't
understand.



Myn didn't look up from his magazine as he heard the door open up. "You're
lucky you didn't get your sorry ass found by one of the night patrols," he
stated. When he got no response, Myn looked up from his magazine.

Jessie was standing in the middle of the floor, his head tipped to one
side as if he were trying to listen to a near inaudible noise. There was an
awed smile was on his face. "Wow!" was all he could breathe.

Myn groaned, and buried his head in his palm. "She collected her dues,
didn't she?"

A rogue smile played on Jessie's face. "Did she ever."

"Oh, the sacrifice you two make on Quistis' behalf," Myn dryly commented
before returning to his magazine.

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